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journalsouppe · 11 months

Text

This is a repost with better images (and the original was posted to my main blog not here)

Uncensored version and close ups below!!

Also apologies for the small and crazy writing, I went insane playing this game and had a lot to say about it LMAO

Stickers are from NoodlesandTeaShop on etsy!!

Rating: 10/10 Played: Su 2022 Port: N. Switch Favorite? Y Replayable: Y Recommended? Y

Comments

my first ace attorney game!!

omg the little anime scenes are so cool

The twist endings/court conclusions are so well made

oh my god I'm in love with Kazuma <3 his theme T-T

each character has such a distinct personality esp from just their animation

I love the [sholmes/iris/ryuu] forhead thing

yeah I'm also in love with Ryuu T-T

the logic and reasoning spectaculars are my favorite thing they're so fun and stupid

Sholmes and Iris are the cutest dad and daughter duo

FIREWORKS? IN THE COURTROOM??

I am so stressed about the Hounds of the Baskerville case O_o

British Ryuu jumpscare

CHUUNOSUKE ON RYUU'S SHOULDER T-T

I like Gina's new job and personality

Ayy Gregsy is back

ohh the great departed soul is both Susato and Kazuma omg

AMNESIA? T^T

Ryuu is scared of everything and I adore it [me too Ryuu]

PLAGUE DOCTOR WANTS TO CUT ME UP??

The wax museum is horrifying wtf

case 8 [2-3] is an all time favorite

HOLY FUCK

[Phonograph sticker] looks just like Barok's

Love goofy Herlock clothes

Case 2-4 specific comments

THE PARALLELS ARE CRAZY

give me your damn sword Kazuma you don't need two of them

KAZUMA'S NEW THEME????

KAZUIMA'S FATHER?

DEAD?

I love how confident, sure, and determined Ryuu is now

bullying Ryu to pay the vendors T-T

is this a fake trial??

Beppo!!!

STOP FLIRTING IN THE MIDDLE OF A TRIAL

Was the will the note sent to Kazuma?

Finishing each others sentences

love [prison warders and a prosecutor, reborn] 10/10 music

Case 2-5 specific comments

FUCK NOT STRONGHART

Kazuma [eye roll]

JIGOKU???

The girls are FIGHTING [kazuma and barok]

IM MIKOTOBA OMG OMG INVESTIGATION

Elementary my dear Mikotoba T^T

TAP DANCING

Was the sword broken from Genshin? NVM LOL [im dumb]

Gregson in the luggage is so fucked

They're all family T-T brother Ryuu

Kazuma's theme is both intimidating but assuring

HOLOGRAM??

THE DANCE????

Iris Van Zieks... IRIS SHOLMES

THE CREDITS, I'm not okay

Game Dev notes

Masterfully done music, esp reinvented themes for change

incredible animations, gives each character so much personality

great story telling - best visual novel for length, story, interest, etc

chronicles has its own achievements - encourages replayability

great pacing and saving - east to pick up and set down

amazing foreshadowing - whole series planned together

incredible balance of comedy and tragedy

takes preexisting stories and tropes and masterfully retells them

Summary:

I'm afraid I won't have enough room to describe how much I love this game. I don't even know where to start :'). This game is a masterpiece of masterpieces. Easily comparable to FMAB in terms of incredible storytelling, foreshadowing, mystery, tragedy, comedy, score, design, you name it. I have never genuinely been so shocked by the surprises in this game, but they were all so well made and fit in the story seamlessly. The tragedy and comedy, the two most important aspects of a story to me, were not only very well balanced, but were used as expert emotional devices throughout the game. The character design is incredible. Small details such as Ryuu's arm brace or Enoch's mechanisms or Iris's dolls add such character and personality even if some of these details aren't plot relevant. Each character has a unique body type, face shape, facial features, etc that it is easy to identify each character without their hair or clothes. The deigns are also so brilliant that it even taught me how to not only draw older people and children, but to be able to distinguish between teenagers and 20-30 year olds in my art (instead of all looking the same age). The animations are beautiful and so ridiculous. I always looked forward to interacting with Herlock and the witnesses. These games also have one of my favorite scores, especially the way they are able to turn established themes on their heads. The music does an amazing job at establishing setting, character, tension, emotion, you name it. Now for the story telling. Holy fucking shit. Holy shit. You don't even realize how important every small is until it hits you in the face. This is a story that will rival my 1st place spot of FMAB [in terms of all media]. It is so beautifully designed and thought over that I can only say the writers at Capcom are true geniuses to make this story. It doesn't hold back any punches but also comforts you. It toys with your emotions and is smth almost evil, but it also gives you hope and confidence and lifts you up so that you can scream to the world. The key to this is Ryuu. He's no avatar like Link but you and him share a strong bond through shared experience. It was an ingenious move to have the first story be Ryuu accused of murder, you learn the hardest way possible how to become a defense attorney of true integrity. His relations to others is this game is incredible too. The betrayal, the longing, the tenderness. Him and Susato have an incredible "sibling" bond to where I truly felt anxious without her. Not to mention Kazuma. A human through and through. Once thought to be the righteous angel, he had later fallen from heaven just to learn the truth of who he and his father really are. Even as the game has ended, I still sit and contemplate on these characters. Although it was the right decision for Kazuma to stay, I am still in pain from their separation. I really wish I could say more but it's also hard to put into words all my feelings with so little space. If I could forget this game just to experience it again, I would. An outstanding work of art. I highly recommend. My new favorite game.

#dgs #video game journal #journalsouppe #bullet journal #ace attorney #journal #tgaa #dai gyakuten saiban #the great ace attorney #the great ace attorney chronicles #ryunosuke naruhodo #kazuma asougi #susato mikotoba #barok van zieks

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pumpkinsouppe · 1 year

Text

Uncensored version and close ups below!!

Also apologies for the small and crazy writing, I went insane playing this game and had a lot to say about it LMAO

The way I has to paste in a sticky note to write more anjfdnsojfndsjnfodjs

Stickers are by NoodlesAndTeaShop on Etsy!!

This is the only game I’ve given a 10/10, I seriously love this game so much and this spread is my favorite thing ever

And if you’re curious how I set up the spread here it is!

Writing typed below!

Rating: 10/10 Played: Su 2022 Port: N. Switch Favorite? Y Replayable: Y Recommended? Y

Comments

my first ace attorney game!!

omg the little anime scenes are so cool

The twist endings/court conclusions are so well made

oh my god I'm in love with Kazuma <3 his theme T-T

each character has such a distinct personality esp from just their animation

I love the [sholmes/iris/ryuu] forhead thing

yeah I'm also in love with Ryuu T-T

the logic and reasoning spectaculars are my favorite thing they're so fun and stupid

Sholmes and Iris are the cutest dad and daughter duo

FIREWORKS? IN THE COURTROOM??

I am so stressed about the Hounds of the Baskerville case O_o

British Ryuu jumpscare

CHUUNOSUKE ON RYUU'S SHOULDER T-T

I like Gina's new job and personality

Ayy Gregsy is back

ohh the great departed soul is both Susato and Kazuma omg

AMNESIA? T^T

Ryuu is scared of everything and I adore it [me too Ryuu]

PLAGUE DOCTOR WANTS TO CUT ME UP??

The wax museum is horrifying wtf

case 8 [2-3] is an all time favorite

HOLY FUCK

[Phonograph sticker] looks just like Barok's

Love goofy Herlock clothes

Case 2-4 specific comments

THE PARALLELS ARE CRAZY

give me your damn sword Kazuma you don't need two of them

KAZUMA'S NEW THEME????

KAZUIMA'S FATHER?

DEAD?

I love how confident, sure, and determined Ryuu is now

bullying Ryu to pay the vendors T-T

is this a fake trial??

Beppo!!!

STOP FLIRTING IN THE MIDDLE OF A TRIAL

Was the will the note sent to Kazuma?

Finishing each others sentences

love [prison warders and a prosecutor, reborn] 10/10 music

Case 2-5 specific comments

FUCK NOT STRONGHART

Kazuma [eye roll]

JIGOKU???

The girls are FIGHTING [kazuma and barok]

IM MIKOTOBA OMG OMG INVESTIGATION

Elementary my dear Mikotoba T^T

TAP DANCING

Was the sword broken from Genshin? NVM LOL [im dumb]

Gregson in the luggage is so fucked

They're all family T-T brother Ryuu

Kazuma's theme is both intimidating but assuring

HOLOGRAM??

THE DANCE????

Iris Van Zieks... IRIS SHOLMES

THE CREDITS, I'm not okay

Game Dev notes

Masterfully done music, esp reinvented themes for change

incredible animations, gives each character so much personality

great story telling - best visual novel for length, story, interest, etc

chronicles has its own achievements - encourages replayability

great pacing and saving - east to pick up and set down

amazing foreshadowing - whole series planned together

incredible balance of comedy and tragedy

takes preexisting stories and tropes and masterfully retells them

Summary:

#I thought I called kazuma a bastard in this journal but it was actually me calling Edgeworth a bastard in AA1 LMAO #I love kazuma but I also want to fight that man oh my god you mother fucker #let me know if you have any questions!#dgs #ace attorney #dgs spoilers #tgaa #tgaa spoilers #dgs 2 spoilers #dai gyakuten saiban #pumpkinsouppe #the great ace attorney #journal #ryunosuke naruhodo #kazuma asogi

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storytime-reviews · 9 months

Text

King of Scars Book Review

The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country's bloody civil war--and he intends to keep it that way. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him.

Rating: ★★★★

King of Scars brilliantly uses multiple perspectives in order to craft a storyline full of dramatic irony and foreshadowing. Leigh Bardugo knew what she was doing in writing a book built on the perspectives of three characters already well known to her audience. King of Scars cleverly makes use of the connections between Nina, Zoya and Nikolai in order to bring their perspectives together and create a more well-rounded view. But what I also think works so well is that aspects of each perspective can hence be hidden from the audience until the critical moment for a plot twist, by focusing on a different individual’s perspective instead.

I always enjoyed Nikolai’s banter with Alina and others in the Shadow & Bone series, but his banter with Zoya is genuinely so much fun, and one of the best aspects of King of Scars. I also love that through their relationship we learn a lot more about who they are as people and what makes them tick. They are both fully fleshed out characters in this book, and continue to drive the plot forward.

The development of our three main characters is easily the most significant part of the novel, and I loved getting to know the backstories of Zoya and Nikolai. There is so much more to both of them than what they appear at first, and their perspectives allow us to finally peel back the curtains on who they really are. Nikolai is an incredibly clever and charming man, who can also be incredibly manipulative, and I loved learning how he came to be. He is absolutely brilliant and it makes me love him even more.

Zoya is not someone I particularly liked in the Shadow & Bone series, although I was told that I would come to love her after reading King of Scars, and those people were correct. This book shows a lot of her backstory and really develops Zoya as a character. Her past explains why she is so hard and strong and easily leans into her asshole side. It also demonstrates how sometimes the semingly harder and less emotional people are the ones that carry the greatest sorrow. I also enjoyed Nina’s journey from soldier to spy, and her pairing up with Hanne is very fitting and almost full circle for Nina.

King of Scars allows for some more world-building, particularly on Grisha theory and amplifiers, and these are actually significant ideas that impact the entire narrative moving forward. So much of the plot in fact revolves around these theories and whether there is any grounding in reality for them, some of which is slowly revealed in the last third of the book. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the idea of ‘the saints are real’, but these theories unfolded in an interesting manner. I also was impressed by the idea of having an amplifier being about give and take, and living as one supportive system. Zoya’s journey in these regards was interesting on a personal level as she developed further as a character, but also fascinating in how the revelations impact what they all know about Grisha theory.

All in all, I really enjoyed King of Scars and cannot wait to read Rule of Wolves and continue the story. However, I rated it 4 out of 5 stars due to the fact that some parts did drag on a little, including some sections with really long descriptions.

Warnings: violence & murder, gun use, torture & body mutilation, slavery, drug abuse

#booklr #king of scars #leigh bardugo #grishaverse #tbrbusterchallenge2023 #bookbanditchallenge #reading #books #book review

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wondereads · 5 months

Text

Weekly Reading Update (11/27/23)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (6/10)

This book was just way too long for the story it was telling. It easily could have been 100 pages shorter. I did like a lot of the emotional moments concerning the romantic relationships, but there is so much filler that it just go incredibly boring at the end. Also, Cassandra Clare does this thing I like to call "no romance left behind" which is when everyone in a book is paired off by the end, even ones that don't really make sense or seem rushed, such as Gabriel and Cecily. The plot in this book was just overall lacking, coming off as extremely simplistic and far too convenient. Luckily, Tessa and her romantic relationships sort of saved the day; the epilogue did make me tear up, hence why this book is not dropping to a 4 or even 3.

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire (9/10)

Continuing my Wayward Children run, Beneath the Sugar Sky is a really good installment. I love that we got the return of Kade and Christopher, who I missed, and the new characters, Cora and Nadya, are quite fun. Nancy was also there for a short time, and I loved seeing her in her element. I really liked Cora, who is great plus size representation and really addressed how being fat affects everything in our world and can worm into your brain. I am obsessed with the worldbuilding of Confection and the foray into how all the worlds are built and how they're laid out. I really hope there are more stories that involve visiting multiple worlds and exploring how they work.

Lodestar by Shannon Messenger (9/10)

This was an amazing installment in Keeper of the Lost Cities. It feels like something has truly changed for the first time in a while, instead of the back-and-forth that usually happens between the Black Swan and the Neverseen. Major developments occurred with terrible consequences for both sides, and we got what I would consider the first major character death as Calla in Neverseen had only been introduced that book. The relationship between Sophie and Keefe also developed quite a bit, and we got some real conflict within the group since the Alden debacle in Exile. Finally, there is some progress in the romance department. They're still, you know, like fourteen/fifteen, but considering how much this series hints at it, I'm glad we're starting to see concrete development. Finally, that ending had me gagged. Not only was the climax ridiculously tense but there is a twist at the end that made me immediately want to start Nightfall.

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (16%)

This book is hitting a little too close to home...as a goody-two-shoes reader who had like two friends growing up, Lundy feels like a callout. I am so excited to see a Goblin Market-based world, as I've read other books like that and they're always incredibly fun.

Cinder Ella by S. T. Lynn (8%)

This is part of a little project I'm doing, and I can't say much about it so far. I'm a little hesitant about the writing, as it has been clunky in a few places, but I'm really interested to see the story of Cinderella under a trans lens.

Rising Storm by Erin Hunter (7%)

I'm back on that Warriors grind, you guys. I swear I am going to read this entire series, even the later ones I never got to that are supposedly terrible. I also might be working on a project concerning them... Anyway, gotta love the Tigerclaw/ShadowClan foreshadowing.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (3%)

It's always thieves in high fantasy novels. I'm not sure what the obsession with them is, but I feel like 60% of high fantasy protagonists are thieves. Anyway, I'm loving the magic system so far, so hopefully the plot and characters will hold up!

#books #reading update #clockwork princess #cassandra clare #beneath the sugar sky #seanan mcguire #lodestar #shannon messenger #in an absent dream #cinder ella #s t lynn #rising storm #erin hunter #foundryside #robert jackson bennett #warrior cats #wayward children #tid #kotlc

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tobeornottotc · 2 years

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The difference between a book and tv adaptation (KinnPorsche the series).

Honestly when it comes a book to tv show adaptation (see my experience with the series Not Me for example), I’m always on edge. With KP, I didn’t first know a lot about the series, like I knew certain spoilers as always, like the final plot twist, the VegasPete ship, and the snippets with Tawan but I didn’t know anything else, however because of that, I came in judging the book and having low expectations from what I heard. But here’s my take on it:

It’s interesting how those opinions have changed now knowing the whole storyline for season 1. I think what I will say is that people really judge the book writers harshly, like the book may be extremely problematic with the actions of the characters but they do apologize, and discuss consent and other issues, it’s not just romanticized or seen as a good thing, I don’t know where we got off thinking that it was. I’m not saying that it makes it right the way some characters acted but this is a book about the mafia, about cruel people forced to be immoral against their wishes, about the pain and suffering they cause on others and also encounter as they fall in love. It’s not really meant to be a woke piece on what representation should be like. So, the characters are slightly more unhinged in the book but actually, after processing them they are still 3 dimensional, they all have things about them that are very hidden in subtext and the writers fail to fully flesh out like they are doing on the show with the team, but it is there.

A misguided translation

Like yes, Kinn is so much more crueller, and bratty in the novel, he’s more possessive and toxic but he does apologize like show Kinn, and he does show moments of remorse and realizations that his actions aren’t right, same as Vegas who is a bit more humanized so far in the book (like he actually did have feelings for Porsche, he was the one who wouldn’t kiss anyone until he met Pete) and the show has given some of Vegas’s special characteristics to Kinn instead to humanize him. However, I think it’s because like in the book with how there were parallels in the subtext between these two couples, they’re doing the same in the show… So it’s interesting, because on the surface, people complain about how badly written the novel is and how it makes no sense, but I think people should realize that it’s because of translation issues, like I didn’t enjoy Love sick the novel because I read a bad translation but when I watched those moments translated properly into the show I understood what I couldn’t see or get with the lack of actual accurate English translations for how the writing Is meant to be. This is for every BL so far, I’ve had to read, translate, and understand. I think the lack of layers people fail to see in the novel is because of that, because the novel is dramatic and there’s a lot going on at once and sometimes we’re too focused only on the surface refusing to see how the characters are affected or what it means for them towards the end, we don’t process it at the end or retrace our steps to see where it was hinted at or foreshadowed, why they do what they do even though it makes sense for most of them.

Take for example, people saying the structure of the novel towards the end felt out of nowhere and shoehorned the plot twist, when in reality no, the novel was planning that from the beginning, every single moment (the show does a better job in intersecting this with the chess metaphor, and the introduction of the idea of a mole and using Vegas as a fodder to explain the next arcs of the show), every single moment is planned, the real reasons for the kidnapping is not a surprise later when you have to piece it together, there’s lots of things that are mentioned and then forgotten about and that’s on purpose. And that’s then slammed on you, leaving you surprised and shocked when you get to the moments those truths are unveiled. The reason why KP is not taken seriously for its actual plot structure is because people only focus on the label of it as BL and judge it on that instead. So, they get distracted by the love story on the surface that acts as a shield to the rest of the plot line, it’s loud, dramatic, toxic and is interlinked to most of the plot, so it’s hard to not pull away from it and see what else is pulling these characters along, or what is causing these events.

Red herrings and intentional distractions

The other thing both in the show and the novel (that I think the directors picked on because while they are changing certain moments in the novel, they’re not changing the structure), is that there are red herrings littered all over the place, Vegas is a massive red herring for the ending, he is the one we assume in the show is the one running everything with the insidious plan. An example where the audience is led to believe in this is in episode; 7 it’s clear he manipulated and is part of the group of people rebelling against the major family, but he’s calculating and frames Don instead, yes that’s Vegas, that’s something he and his family would do, but he’s not the big villain, some people will get distracted by Tawan (again the romance arc of the story) and say he’s the villain, but the show only uses him again as a tool to reveal the next part of the mystery of the chess game, despite us being too distracted to see how, everything is on purpose and once you get through the book, the moments that plot twist arc starts to happen you start to realize why certain characters have been doing what they’ve been doing, what’s actually happened in the past to get the characters where they are and what is going to be their future. Again, the show does this by making a metaphorical analogy of the chess game, showing you that each episode, or plot is a chess move, getting closer and closer to leaving the King on both sides being exposed and in danger, everyone is being controlled, the good people (the knights), the mysterious pawns and even the ones on the other side. It’s all strategized and structured, so the writers deserve credit for that because they did have their own themes that were difficult to notice because of being distracted by the surface actions but also with the show will make more sense because we can see visual imagery, and metaphors, and mise-en scenes where the meta isn’t hidden. I think the show is doing a great job so far, but the writers in my opinion made it easier for them to do so.

Enhancing a story

I think KP is one of the best books to adaptations because every single actor embodies their roles perfectly. It’s like they were a bit destined to play each character they were given. They all have the best attributes needed to love the characters in the novel. For example, Mile is great at giving the softness that Kinn lacks in written word despite the fact that again it is there in the book, Apo has the lovable childishness, and sensitivity that Porsche shows in the book but normally really comes off more bratty and ignorant and hurtful, and also Porsche isn’t problematic with the way he thinks about his queerness in the show either, which is a great change, and wonderful for representation. Bible has the charisma needed to seduce and compel us like Vegas, but he also gives more to him than just this cold psychopathic person, he makes you think and feel like there’s more to Vegas which is what is needed, you can tell from his acting that he is in a mask constantly and we haven’t yet seen the real version of the character he’s meant to play. This is the same as Build, who is filled with duality, smiling so bright and gives off this cute babyish vibe at times making you want to protect Pete but also the hardness and charisma of one who is serious, accepting, and dark when it comes to the violence and pain he encounters, there’s a dominance shown in moments when he loses that smile and then a softness returned. Build is able to perfect those two spectrums perfectly. I think this is what makes it so easy to immerse ourselves with the story of KP in the show more than the novels, in the novels the characters are given the right traits just lacking the written power and description to make them leap of that way. But with KP, it’s also the way that the directors are all part of this that makes this show stand out as a great adaptation.

First is the effort and budget given to showcase the extremities of the novel, the budget helps us see how much wealth and power consumes the characters and the show ensures we see that, we see the symbolic objects, we see the symbolic colors, we see the symbolic locations and we feel all of it, because of the extra effort and quality put to show that. Next is the fact that the show combines four directors including a screen writer along with the original writers (the ones that know the story structure and created it), all with different strengths and skills. We have Pond, who is the one determined to showcase the intimacy that the book lacked due to again it’s written state, he’s the controller of the show’s plot, he’s the one who steers and alters and changes what he felt needed to be altered but he still sticks to the structure and guidelines given to him by the OG writers. He’s skilled at understanding what makes the audience tick with Y series, how to improve and emphasize the romance that the book haphazardly ruined at times when adding it to the structure and flow. He does this with Pepsi, the codirector of many known Y favorites, because she creates depth and meta in everything she does, from Bad buddy, and fleshing out the novel to give it even more depth in a different way, to Dark Blue Kiss which she also did the same for the love stories there, to Greater Man Academy, she has been the forefront of taking flawed human characters and giving them their voice, while working and ensuring their arcs are completed in a way that makes sense. She has a harder job this time around to humanize two characters story and love, that seem twisted, immoral, and unforgiving, and that’s Vegas and Pete but seeing how she always positively represents queer topics and themes, she would be more determined in showing us the challenges of these 2 while also humanizing them, however I also don’t think she will censor them as per the authors requests. Additionally, we have Khom, the director known for the award-winning directing of action scenes, he was added into this project for his skills need to showcase the darker and more experienced side of mafia world ensuring the action scenes do look high quality and still flow well with the structure of the script and story. And then we have Nhing who is the cinematographer of the previous known works such as I told sunset about you, incredible meta director who showcases the themes normally left in the subtext with the mise-en-scene and filmography, she’s the reason for the color theories, the symbols, the lighting, and due to that quality, KP even gets even more enhanced as a perfect visual image for us viewers than just reading only the plot of the book.

This is why the show is better in that case than what the outlines of the novels provide, because it is pleasing and its edits are thoughtful and effective for amazing storytelling and adds more depth and feelings to the overall structure of the plot, there’s more empathy felt for the characters, more pain and worry and unease shaped into some of their actions to act even more as red herrings and distract the audience, and the pacing fits to ensure that the action, romance, and then overall the mafia darkness that surrounds each threads are given energy, effort and excellence. The directors have taken this story further than most do, with their original source. Which is what makes this whole experience special.

While again, the book version of KP isn’t as bad as people say it is, and I give it to the authors for their overall ability to plan and structure it well, I think it also will make us feel a lot of things and understand the weight of the theme of the series which is the corruption and entrapment of this mafia world and the choices and decisions caused by generational trauma that shapes each of the characters arcs and involvement. I also think there are a few shocking surprises, and deaths coming too, and I think that’s essentially what we expected from KP? The show very much does however enrich everything and make it worthwhile, there’s so much effort spilled into every episode, and it makes me emotional to see it for this genre, and from where we used to be with this. So, to answer your question I would say yes, the show is better than the book but I’m grateful that the original source of this made gateways and made it easy for a story like this to be created. I’m also grateful to the team who worked to ensure that better representation and eliminating flaws of normal stereotyped Y series contained in the novel, in order to avoid harming the community, because now we have both a really unique story, and also one that can be good for queer media and storytelling worldwide. I think that’s amazing.

Thanks for the question! You made me create a blog from this ha-ha, but I hope you enjoyed reading it. Still reeling from episode 7 and there’s so much, so much to say, breakdown, and analyze, if you have any other questions feel free to come over.

@queenneferadenile @julie-oc here you go :)

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #asks #reviews #bl series #thai bl #kinn x porsche #kinnporsche meta #bl drama

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beauty-and-passion · 2 years

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Sanders Sides Q&A: learning more

As you all can deduce from the title, this isn't a normal Sanders Sides episode: this is a Q&A, so we will have just funny questions, funny answers, a lot of laughs and zero foreshadowing. Definitely.

Okay, fine, there is some foreshadowing. And the way it has been used kinda confirms what I said in my last analysis: something changed. This series isn't just "funny sketches with funny figures" anymore. The figures are now characters, with names and personalities. And with this Q&A, Thomas is making his public aware of it.

___________

Murderers and lies

[Thomas]: What is your favorite book? [Logan]: Ooh! The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Phenomenal ending. The murderer was— [Thomas]: WHAAAT ARE YOU DOING?! [Logan]: What? I'm providing valuable insight into the novel.

If you never read this book and want to do it, skip this part because, as you can guess, I will spoil the ending.

This book has a narrator, Dr James Sheppard, who becomes Poirot's assistant for the case. At the end of the book, with an unexpected plot twist, we find out that the narrator was the murderer. For the entire time, he used literary techniques to conceal his guilt: he never openly lied, but he didn't tell the entire truth either. He wrote down his thoughts and notes about the case, but hid his involvement. In other words: he is the perfect example of an unreliable narrator.

Agatha Christie uses this literal figure to play a "mind game" with the readers and to emphasize the intelligence of her detective: at the end, Poirot finds out who the murderer was, because he read what Sheppard wrote. So he basically read the entire book, just like us. He has no other information, aside from the same that has been given to us.

But while we were distracted by the story and the plot, Poirot was not, he connected all the dots and found the culprit.

I think Logan likes this book, exactly because of this little “mind game”. In other thrillers, the reader has a passive role and all the narrator does is accompany them to the solution. Here the reader can be involved, if they are clever enough to connect all dots and not trust anyone, narrator included. It is an unexpected change and a nice stimulation for a logical, analytical mind.

In addition to that, we cannot deny the role lies play in this novel. Lies are what kept the story together and offered the plot twist. They are essential for the story. But they are also what hid the truth until the end.

And if we think about this, Logan's words in CLBG are even more interesting:

[Logan]: Given all the variations of dishonesty, lies of omission, lies of commission, et cetera, lies can be fairly difficult to avoid. (...) Very few people are always honest one hundred percent of the time. They're a very rare breed.

No one can be honest all the time, not even a narrator. Lies are difficult to avoid, because they are everywhere, even when they are not supposed to be. Like, you know, during the narration of a thriller.

And yes, lies are very different. Because one thing is the suspension of disbelief: this is a necessary lie to enjoy the story. Another thing is the narrator lying to hide their involvement.

[Deceit]: What you don't know can't hurt you. [Logan]: FALSEHOOD. Knowledge is an incomparably valuable multi-purpose tool that is instrumental in identifying and solving any problem. If you're worried about getting hurt... then seek knowledge; it is our greatest weapon... and our greatest defense.

In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd knowledge is both a weapon and a defense. Sheppard used it to build a complex lie that could have fooled the readers, Poirot shielded himself from that lie by seeking knowledge. And, as Logan says, knowledge can be used to solve a problem indeed - like a muder case.

___________________

Rectifying the mistake

[Thomas]: Are you the same for everybody? [Anxiety]: No, I'm not the same for everybody. I'm Thomas' anxiety. Everyone's works differently. [Thomas]: Yeah, mine's just a little... heightened. [Anxiety]: Exactly. Can I go? [Thomas]: Nah, stick around. [Anxiety]: You never want me to stick around...

Here we can see Thomas fixing the mistake he made in Anxiety’s introductory video. Now we have a clear confirmation that this guy is not the general concept of anxiety, but Thomas’ specific anxiety. And that means Morality, Creativity and Logic are also Thomas' specific aspects, not general concepts.

This gives Mr. Sanders a lot more creative freedom, because his characters do not have to stick to the norm anymore: if they are specific for one individual, they can be the embodiment of these general concepts, but also something more. They can have more functions. And they can do things usually impossible to do (like ducking out).

Also, please notice that this is the first time Thomas asks Anxiety to stick around. For the first time, Thomas doesn't give him the cold shoulder, but accepts his presence. And I love the surprise/confusion on Anxiety's face: it clearly implies that this has never happened, Thomas has never wanted him around.

Something is starting to change.

___________________

Princey, Princey, Princey...

[Thomas]: Princey (...) do you have a prince or princess that you are in love with? [Princey]: I am currently between princes and princesses. I am on a solo quest to help save... myself, for right now.

Oh, Princey. What a bad liar you are. Saving yourself or thinking about yourself? Sure, name me three times this happened. Do you know what I remember of you, my dear "oh no, I am thinking about me, I should love me first?"

[Roman]: I so... SO badly want this. I- I'm desperate for it... but you can't have true love... if the relationship isn't built on truth. (FWSA)

Ah yes, truly the words of a man who thinks about himself only and is not desperately searching for love because this way he can ignore everything else going wrong in his life.

___________________

Time to overanalyze... or not?

Yep, it's time to talk about the songs. Again.

(I will keep it short this time, I swear.)

Thomas asked his sides how they are feeling and they should reply with a song title. The titles have been chosen to emphasize their personalities: so Logic is just okay, Anxiety is not okay, Creativity is confident (I know, I know, it's funny just like this) and Morality is a silly guy. There is nothing else to analyze.

But hey, welcome to the Sanders Sides fandom: we love to overanalyze everything and this is exactly what I will do with these songs.

Before starting: of course there is a very huge possibility that these songs have just been chosen because of their titles. I know that. But I also know that Mr. Sanders likes to hide hints. And one of these songs is in one of the Sides' playlist (and we know by Thomas' own admission that the playlists have meanings and references). So these songs might just be random... but also they might be not.

And if they're not, get ready because some of them are incredible.

---

LOGIC: Comfortably Numb

When I found out what this song was about, it blew my mind.

First of all, it is based on a true story: the singer was sick before a show, so the doctor injected him with some tranquilizer to enable him to perform. Thanks to the meds, he was finally able to go on stage, but he was also suffering the counter effects of the tranquilizer: his hands were stiff, his vision was blurry. However, no one in the public realized that, because they were too excited and kept jumping/screaming.

This leads to one of the biggest themes of this song: the lack of communication between the public and the band. The singer doesn't feel any physical pain anymore, sure, but the medicines didn't give him happiness. He is alone. Other people see him, but no one listens to him.

Doesn't that remind you of anything?

That's not all. If we go deeper, this song can be considered a huge metaphor. Going on stage equals facing society, relationships and everything going on in your life. In order to do that, society pretends you are productive and successful, even when you don't feel like it.

So, in order to satiate that need, you take your medicine. And this medicine can be anything that suppresses your pain, your emotions, your humanity. Because these parts of yourself are not important, when you have to be productive. You cannot waste time dealing with pesky feelings, when there is a job to do.

But refusing to deal with your humanity and rejecting parts of yourself doesn't make you feel better. On the other hand, it makes you numb to everything. You might be physically here, but your own self is not present. You are watching your life from the outside, as if everything is just a show and you are slowly moving away from it.

This is what Comfortably Numb is about. Loneliness, searching for a meaning, inability to communicate, losing of humanity. And these are all issues Logan has. All of them.

And what surprises me the most is that they have always been here since episode ten. Even before Logan became the frustrated, passive-aggressive character he is now, all of his issues have been revealed to us by a goddamn song in a goddamn Q&A.

I refuse to believe this was just a huge coincidence and blame Mr. Sanders instead for being so good at hinting stuff.

---

CREATIVITY: All I Do Is Win

If Logan's song literally smacked all of his issues in our faces, this one doesn't have as much to offer.

The song is about how cool and awesome the singer is. It has a lot of motivational, uplifting vibes, to the point we can consider it a sort of "hymn to himself".

And okay, maybe there is not much to offer, but it can still give us an insight about Roman - or, more precisely, about this Roman. About the Side he was before accepting Anxiety and the wedding/callback thing.

In my Roman's playlist analysis, I noticed the first songs were very focused on how he had expectations to follow and he had to follow them all. A perfect example is Holding Out for a Hero: Roman had to be strong and brave and always ready to fight, never a moment of weakness, greater and more awesome than anyone else.

All I Do Is Win reminds me a lot of Holding Out for a Hero: if the second song listed all great things Roman should do and what he must be to be the perfect hero for Thomas, the first one acts as an self-motivational song. He has to be a perfect hero, right? So he must believe he can do it, he is the coolest and the best and everyone loves him.

But we all know this is not Roman. Roman is not so overconfident, but he is actually very insecure. This makes this song part of the whole façade Roman put on. He must be great and awesome, so he tries to convince himself and the public he truly is, by choosing a song that overflows with confidence as much as possible.

Because no one will suspect anything, if he keeps acting as if he's the best.

---

ANXIETY: I’m Not Okay (I Promise)

I already talked about this song when I analyzed Virgil's playlist (you can find the complete analysis HERE).

What I want to reaffirm here is the connection between this song, what we learned about Anxiety until now and the foreshadowing that is hinted here about his future.

First of all, the line "You sing the words, but don’t know what it means", which connects beautifully to what Anxiety will say in this same episode, when he calls the Core Sides "clueless morons". They think they know reality, but they know nothing. They are clueless.

And, just like they cannot understand reality, they cannot understand Virgil either. ("You said you read me like a book/But the pages are all torn and frayed now"). They think they know him, because they think he is just a bad guy. But he's not. And he is tired of being seen as such. Hence why he is not okay.

Also, if you remember his playlist, the following song was about him ducking out, so this one can be considered a huge foreshadowing of what will come.

---

MORALITY: I Am The Walrus

This song is... interesting.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. Patton's playlist has been very difficult for me to put into words, so I supposed this song wasn't easy either.

And it's not. It's very weird.

Let's start from the beginning: "I am the Walrus" is one of Beatles' songs, written by John Lennon and the title is based on a poem called "The Walrus and the Carpenter" which appears in Through the Looking-Glass.

The poem describes how a carpenter and a walrus gain the trust of a group of oysters, only to betray and eat them. In the book, Alice tries to determine which of the two is more sympathetic because was more sorry or ate less, but at the end she just says they are both unpleasant.

A ton of people gave a ton of different interpretations to this poem. Some said it was an allegory of religion, others that it was political.

My personal, very biased, very influenced by Sanders Sides interpretation is that these two are both liars and deceivers and oh wow, what a surprise, once again we have a connection between Patton and Janus. As if there weren't enough in his playlist.

And if we think about that, I would like to add what Lennon said about it:

"Later, I went back and looked at it and realized that the walrus was the bad guy in the story and the carpenter was the good guy. I thought, Oh, shit, I picked the wrong guy. I should have said, 'I am the carpenter.' But that wouldn't have been the same, would it?"

So the walrus is the bad guy. The walrus, the one Patton chose.

I know, it sounds so perfect. There is everything and I can write an endless post about this and the possible implications of Patton considering himself the bad guy and so on.

But do you want to know what the truth is? That this poem has no meaning. There is nothing hidden here. It's just a poem for children.

And believe it or not, but this is also the theme of the entire song.

You heard me right: I Am The Walrus does not have a meaning. John Lennon wrote it during two different acid trips and made this song, by picking a lot of references from everything around him and putting them together. So we have connections to other songs (Beatles' ones included) and references to random stuff like cornflakes or police sirens, nursery rhymes, a ton of writers, even theatrical pieces like King Lear.

I know what you're thinking: why? Why would he write this song? Well, there is a reason. The reason was a teacher from Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool, who made their student analyze the lyrics of Beatles' songs. And so, John Lennon decided to write the most nonsensical lyrics ever. I respect him for such a power move.

Okay, so now we know what this song is about. Now we can ask ourselves: why did Thomas Sanders choose this song for Morality?

Maybe he did it just for the joke: ahah everyone picks an emotion/mood but he picked something nonsensical, what a funny guy he is.

Maybe he did it to send a message to us: do not over-analyze everything. Not everything has been planned down to the smallest thing, some details are just coincidence. It makes sense, considering how much we like to overanalyze everything and how, sometimes, Mr. Sanders has to remind us that coincidences exist too.

But, maybe, there is another reason. Isn't it strange that all other songs are somehow related to the Side, but Morality's is just a message from Thomas to the public? What if this isn't a message from Thomas, but from Morality himself?

Do you remember how his playlist started? With Spongebob's campfire song. A nonsensical song that has nothing to do with anything else. A song that was a red herring and a way to discourage people to dig deeper. Why listen to other songs? Just listen to this one! There is nothing important if you keep going.

I Am The Walrus has the exact same vibes. Why should you dig more and over-analyze everything? There is nothing to see here! Just a happy, innocent, smiling Morality. Nothing to hide here, no issues, no sad feelings.

Maybe this is the reason why Morality picked this song. After all, he already tried to deceive the public once, why couldn't he do it again?

______________________

Just look at them being Youtubers

[Thomas]: If you all had your own YouTube channels, what would their content be? [Logan]: Videos analyzing the themes and pointing out inconsistencies in TV shows, movies, and comic books.

Logan confirms to be the best, because these are my favourite kind of videos. Especially the critical ones and especially if they are well made with irony and sarcasm. I could watch them for more hours than I already do.

[Princey]: Epic fail compilations! ...Of all the horrible deaths my enemies incur after I impale them.

So a channel with your brother, I see.

[Anxiety]: I would make a bunch of videos about conspiracies and cryptids.

So Virgil will be the next Wendigoon? Good taste, my boy. Good taste.

[Morality]: My channel would have videos of me playing with goo and mixing paint! [Logan]: Oh, autonomous sensory meridian response videos! [Morality]: Eh, I'm pretty sure it’s just me playing with goo and paint.

Okay, so he wants to make one of those videos without context that, in five years, will be shared everywhere, people will start making horrific theories and it will become an internet creepypasta? Good for him.

___________________

Anxiety is a nice bean (more or less)

This is definitely my favourite part. I just love Anxiety blasting everyone and the reactions are absolute perfection.

[Thomas]: Anxiety, can you say one nice thing about all of us? [Anxiety]: Oh, brother... Ok. [Anxiety]: Dad, you make Logic furious, and that is fun to watch... even though you're a clueless moron the rest of the time. [Morality]: Aw, ok.

I love how Patton's reaction is just "ok". He himself is the first to acknowledge that yeah, he is a clueless moron the rest of the time. He himself knows he acts silly. I am not crazy when I say this guy is much more mature than it seems.

I also like how Anxiety's compliment is "you are funny", because it's the exact same thing he will tell him during AA-part 2 ("You're a funny guy").

[Anxiety]: Logic, you understand reality better than the other two, and that is very comforting... but you are still a clueless moron most of the time. [Logan]: How dare you.

I love Logan’s reply. The expression, the voice, everything is wonderful and cracks me up every single time.

But also, let's consider Anxiety's words. First of all, he says Logan understands reality better than the other two Sides. He acknowledges that the logic Side has a more complete, mature vision of the world. And even if he tells him he is still a clueless moron, he specifies “most of the time”: that implies there are moments in which he is not, in which he is clever.

Basically, he made him the biggest compliment. He told him he is a mature guy and that it is very nice to have someone like him around, who is clever enough to understand how the world works.

[Anxiety]: Prince, I gotta say, you do impress me... by being a clueless moron ALL the time. [Princey]: Well that wasn't remotely nice.

Princey, my dear, you cannot pretend to not be considered a clueless moron, considering you are still deep into the black/white mentality and acting like a huge man-child :P

[Anxiety]: And Thomas... [Thomas]: Spare me the compliment.

How dare you, Mr. Sanders, to deprive us of Anxiety's insult? I couldn't wait to hear him say something like "you are just a moron, not even clueless".

In order to repent for this, I pretend an episode with just Thomas and the dark bois. Why? Because we need more beautiful insults. So what’s better than Virgil saying he’s an idiot, Remus calling him prude and Janus being his mother and complaining about everything Thomas does?

___________________

What a majestic troll

[Thomas]: What are all of your real names?! (...) [Thomas]: ...Well, that was thoroughly and utterly disappointing! Guess we'll all find out later.

Just look at this man. Just look at him clicking his tongue and winking. He is screaming "Yes, they all have names and I know them! And I (probably) already planned the season finale!".

He is a sassy bitch, I love him for that.

But also: if he already planned the Sides' names and the season finale... does that mean Mr. Sanders already planned the other Sides too? Because in AA part 2, Roman will say there are "others". So, in order to say that line, that means Thomas and Joan already had other Sides in mind.

Let's also consider what Thomas said at the end of the video:

[Thomas]: I hope this helped you get to know the different facets of my personality a little bit better! They are an eclectic bunch. And hopefully, we get to learn a little bit more about them in videos to come!

This heavily implies Thomas and Joan already had an idea of the following episodes, on what would happen, on the Sides that would come. Maybe they were still lacking a more defined outline, but AT LEAST they knew three more Sides were supposed to come.

And that means that, from now on, we will start to see little hints dropped here and there. Maybe they won't all be made on purpose, but they will start to appear.

And that means things will soon get very, very interesting.

_______________________________

A haunting realization

[Morality]: Aww, there's so much cool stuff they've done for us online, kiddos! [Princey]: Oh yeah? [Morality]: There's some really neato artwork of us all AND some writing as well! Say, what is a "ship"? [Logan]: Seriously, Morality, you don't know what that is? It is a craft designed for water travel. [Anxiety]: Even Prince knew that. [Princey]: Yeah, even I knew that. [Morality]: Oh, ok! It does not look like that, but ok.

Morality canonically read fanfictions. This guy, with the face of a puppy and the naive innocence of a child. This guy who has no idea what "adultery" means. This guy who loves dogs more than anything else. This guy read fanfictions.

Just let this realization sink in. Just think of the last fanfictions you saw - yes, that BDSM one included (I know there is, they are everywhere). Just think that this man read it with his own two eyes.

Well, I will just leave you with this little terrifying awareness. Good luck trying to sleep now ~

( Support me on Ko-fi )

_______________________________

TAGLIST:

@willpowerwisps @royalprinceroman @reesiereads @mudpuddlenl @shelby-711 @allmycrushesaredead @aquatedia @sweetkirbi @whatishappeningrightnow @effortiswhatmatters @atlasistryingherbest @bella-in-a-bag @doydoune @miasheer @forever-third-wheeling @mishanthropist @corndot @payte @mcang3l @geekyapollokid @kawaiipotatuh @hypnossanders @idontreallyknow24 @imcrushedbyarainbow @simplyapannightmare @patton-cake @hereissananxiousmess @purplebronzeandblue @cynicalandsarcastic @empressserelene @dubstepbranch @chara-073 @lost-in-thought-20 @arobohamster @book-limerence @andtheyreonfire @ironic-is-a-bastard

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#sanders sides #sanders sides theory #rewatch #analysis #thomas sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #ts thomas #ts patton #ts logan #ts roman #ts remus #ts virgil #ts janus #Sanders Sides Q&A

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aquadestinyswriting · 11 months

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Storyteller Saturday

So, before I get stuck back into FFXIV for the day (again), let's ask a new question for this week. As usual, all tags are no pressure and anyone that hasn't been tagged but who wants to answer is free to do so :).

Have you had any unexpected plot twists happen in your story? How did they make you feel? For the ones you wanted to keep; did you find you accidentally foreshadowed them or did you have to go back and add some in?

Tagging: @druidx, @asher-orion-writes, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds

My own answer is under the cut

For me, I do find unexpected plot twists do happen in my stories sometimes, especially those that aren't based on actual events that happened in the campaigns I write about.

Generally, they make me feel excited because it means that the story is unfolding more organically, though - because I rarely accidentally foreshadow anything - it becomes a p.i.t.a because I then need to go back and seed that in manually.

The best example I can think of is the relationship between Selene and Edwin. Admittedly, that did all happen before the Destiny's New Servants campaign ended, but it turned out to be a fun little plot twist regardless as I'd originally created Selene as someone who was just plain not interested in those kinds of entanglements. However, when writing the original version of 'The Wizard's Tale' for NanoWriMo a few years back, it became clear that there was something going on between her and Edwin that I was keen to explore. It did turn out I'd done *some* accidental foreshadowing in some scenes in the original version of Selene's visit to Fangthane, but I needed to go back and make it more obvious when I got around to the re-write that is now 'A Circle None Can Break'. Making that original single super-long novel a series makes putting in all that foreshadowing a lot easier.

#storyteller saturday #sts #answered ask #titan fighting fantasy #selene frigidwake #edwin goodwin #writing meta #foreshadowing #plot twists

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missmrah · 1 year

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what did u think of greywaren

I don’t normally get this kind of ask so this is actually exciting for me! Even though I’m still working through a lot of my feelings (and will probably require a re-read at some point to fully process), I’ll try to summarize my current thoughts without direct spoilers… warning: some of my takeaway is not exactly positive.

I think, for me at least, the plot of The Dreamer Trilogy, and especially Greywaren, often required too much willing suspension of disbelief.

It suffers from existing within the established universe of The Raven Cycle while attempting to vastly expand upon it. New and then subsequent revelations regarding Dreamers/Dreams, the Mods/Visionaries, and *spoilers* about Ronan himself that were meant to advance the plot and up the stakes, often felt cheaply contrived. Worse, sometimes these contrivances actually felt like Stiefvater was coming just shy of retconning the events of her previous works, retroactively adding to the narrative to the point of making it nearly unrecognizable.

This meant that as I found myself constantly having to reevaluate my understanding of how this universe operates it wasn’t generally in a way that I felt the storytelling had earned; there weren’t enough satisfying moments of, “OMG, I should have/didn’t see that coming (that’s so cool)?!” Instead, my response was more often, “Oh… yeah okay. I guess I can accept that.” To be clear, this didn’t ruin my enjoyment, but the fact is, I might have genuinely loved the events and twists in Greywaren if there had been a little more groundwork to make them feel less unprecedented (an example would be the nature/origin of the Visionaries, which introduced about a million questions and the only explanations we were given were the ones convenient for the immediate story, which unfortunately I remain unconvinced made much sense within the context of the universe?) For me, a little extra thoughtful foreshadowing would have gone a long way. (To be honest, I felt this way sometimes while reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue and also The Raven King). Ultimately, if TDT had existed independent of TRC, the extended scope of the world and the magic that exists in it wouldn’t have introduced so many glaring gaps in consistency… but therein lies another problem: if it hadn’t been about the Lynch brothers I might not have read it in the first place.

All of that said, I actually did really enjoy Greywaren, and I came around to some of the story choices that at first I had found hard to swallow. Stiefvater’s dedication to character exploration and development in both TRC and TDT is what really makes her writing shine and both these series bring to life a compelling cast of characters that practically spill off the page with their raw and messy emotions, at once loveable and agonizingly human and so very deeply and beautifully flawed. In the end, I find that the heart she brings to these characters and their feelings and relationships with one another is more than enough to make up for the confounding plot twists that occasionally lead to somewhat bewildering or unsatisfying payoffs. But really, so what if I’m not overly attached to the world building? Let’s not pretend my investment in these novels was ever for anything other than the emotional journey of Ronan Lynch et all—and later Hennessy and co as I came to love them too—and in that department I think Greywaren absolutely delivered. (I might have liked to see more Adam Parrish, and more mentions of his dreamt motorcycle too… but this is why we have fanfic!)

I hope this wasn't too long, sometimes I get carried away xx

#greywaren #the dreamer trilogy #the raven cycle #ronan lynch #sort of a review #sort of me just rambling #thanks for the ask!

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treesap-blogs · 1 year

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Saturday evening post!! “The Merciless Ones” review by Namina Forna

Hello, Tumblrians! As you all might know, I read The Gilded Ones back in January, and really enjoyed it! Namina Forna pulled me into the story with the brutality outlined in the first half, as well as the strong friendships that powered Deka’s journey throughout, and all of the possibilities for exploring the series’ world. Unfortunately though, the ending was clunky to say the least, and it..created a bunch of flaws in the narrative that’d been set up until then. Overall I wasn't jiving with it. But! Seeing as it was still a solid novel, and it displayed Forna’s potential as a writer (it was her debut novel I’m pretty sure? I’ve unintentionally read a lot of those, goodness), I immediately put The Merciless Ones on by TBR! To which it was ordered by a librarian, and it arrived around the last week of the month :).

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this book, though. Of course, when reading a book that expands on an ending that I disliked (the same thing happened with Six Crimson Cranes to some degree?), it’s logical to assume that I as a reader wouldn’t really enjoy it as much, although I was hoping it would show some promise. It did, in some part! Firstly, I was waiting to see some of the political aftermath of the ending, and we saw that with the Alaki’s treatment, and a bit of inclusion on how the blood ceremony was handled after that (it was basically no longer practiced, spoiler). It integrated more of that brutality present in TGO, especially with the beginning starting off with a bang, as the first sentences are literally about two corpses Deka finds.

Overall though, it had the same issues as its predecessor but intensified: Plot twists felt predictable(except for one?), and the foreshadowing was very obvious because of that. Around the 1/3rd mark I just started making fun of Deka’s “guesses” being proven right again.

SPOILER SECTION!! If you want to read ahead, sure.

Firstly, Melanis got to be cartoonishly evil in the ending. I actually giggled when Deka (foolishly and half-hazardly) tried to convince Melanis into joining her side because The Gilded Ones were lying the entire time (..shocker), to which Melanis just prided them on their sexist cruelty lmao💀 like okay “that just makes me love them even more!” jdkwnfkensof

Actually, everyone gets to be cartoonishly evil by the end?? Goodness.

Speaking of the gods and their sexism, I..don’t know how to feel about how it was handled here. It felt like there was too much “both sides-ism” in the narrative now, even if Deka’s internal monologue says multiple times that the male monarchs/authorities went totally overboard and shouldn’t have created the misogynistic society that literally tortured Deka (and literal millions) in this series!! But now we have a reason for that oppression(kinda), and it feels weird. Why does there need to be a logical reason for it? Fine, I guess it’s for plot reasons because of how the Merciless and Gilded Ones are counterparts of each other (the former essentially being a genderbent version of the latter), and eventually turned against each other, yada yada yada…

It felt like Forna wanted to make the gods complex or interestingly evil but..I don’t know, execution wasn’t really that great.

Deka is also ridiculously overpowered?? I completely forgot she was said to be wholly immortal in TGO, and for most of the book it just makes her feel detached from the other characters and a chunk of the stakes of the narrative. Especially with how she literally is for most of the time?! I might not be original for stating this (shoutout to a helpful Goodreads reviewer, I wish I remembered your user, bless), but what made the first book really stick was that even with the fantastical elements it still felt human. Britta and Deka’s unconditional friendship, how the Alaki supported each other, their very human emotions and struggles despite what you’d expect from the premise carried it. For TMO, we got a false(?) McGuffin, along with Deka being very different from her friends..being truly immortal, the only one who can communicate with the gods, kind of being a god herself. It’s..huh. AND NOW SHE CAN GIVE OTHER PEOPLE ABILITIES?! NOT JUST ABILITIES BUT IMMORTALITY?!?! SLOW DOWN😭 (At least we establish she has some limits though, because her physical body is taking physical damage by the end. How the hell does she even work though?! Is she a soul? Something incomprehensible to the human mind, vast and cosmic?? But then how was that formed, is she just..separate from the body she was born/created with? That raises so many questions!!?)

Anyhow. It really set in that I kind of excused how rushed Kaita and Deka’s romance was? They started out with a rivalry or “hating each other”, had one conversation and suddenly they got googly eyes for each other. I’m thinking of this because their “development” was mentioned somewhere in the book, as a way of signaling to the readers how far they’ve come. But it?? Sure doesn’t feel like it in retrospect haha. He also doesn’t do a ton in the book, except for when they legitimately tried to redeem Deka’s father because he’d “realized his mistakes” or some bullshit and he talked some sense into her (BC HER FATHER LITERALLY TORTURED HER?? WILLINGLY!! SHE LITERALLY CHANGED HER APPEARANCE TO NO LONGER HAVE HIS CHARACTERISTICS BECAUSE SHE WAS TRAUMATIZED BRO🧍). I like that Kaita did that actually because I was like “TALK YOUR SHITTTTT” like Deka wdym “I hated my father all this time😔and for what reason😢” Kaita literally was like HE BEHEADED YOU!! Such a stupid part of the book like girlie I get having parental issues but I was gonna lose my shit fr if Forna used his death as a means of redeeming him chkwncosnfoenforn.

That rant aside though, again, Kaita was mostly useless.

I also just found a lot of stuff to be unintentionally funny this time around because the plot got to be nonsensical after a while. There was one part I did find genuinely funny though less so because of the bad writing and more so just the way events played out?? One of the highlights of this book in my opinion was when the Merciless Ones(the male gods) were trying to mess with Deka’s memories and she knew and was just so fed up of being manipulated by gods she just walked out of their chamber lmfao.

One last complaint! Not digging the sudden introduction of romantic relationships for this book. The first one was so based around platonic ones, and found family even, that it kinda took away from that :(.

Ok! Complaints aside! I’m a little intrigued by what they established with White Hands — will she get to explore her own gender and identity outside of what the Gilded Ones pushed onto her in the next book? (Does that mean they could be non-binary like Thandiwe?) Are they technically intersex, therefore making their story also kind of work as an allegory for forced intersex surgeries? I’m kind of intrigued, as a non-binary reader.

Last things I feel like discussing for this section!! I was pretty stoked that Karmoko Thandiwe was revealed to be non-binary! They were my favorite of the Karmokos in the last book, probably one of my favorite characters overall, their introduction just stuck with me and was so metal. (The “I’ll cut your tongue off and put it in a jar to keep me company” thing caught me so off-guard lmao but it was also kinda badass.) I do feel like the confirmation of it was a little awkwardly worded, though (as are most instances of NB rep unfortunately because it’s often expected that the audience won’t automatically catch on, so we gotta have their gender and pronouns be explicitly stated). Karmoko Huon being trans surprised me though! I’m not gonna lie, maybe there were some hints I could’ve been missing out on because Deka was like “oh yea! I guess I picked it up from the specific way she was shut out from society and ostracized” and I just? Couldn’t remember any of that really standing out?? Or maybe it’s like the Kaita relationship thing where not as much really happened? Anyhow. The influx of queer representation was unexpected but good, although I feel like they only got surface-level on how queer people are oppressed in a multitude of ways in this world, specifically in the case of alaki/women? I guess I get why that was the case though, because Deka is our POV and she’s not queer in any way. Point is though I just wish there was a bit more time spent on that, not because I want to see people suffering on the pages even more(heaven knows there’s enough of that for this series), but so there could be a little more care put into discussing it?

I think that’s all the spoiler-y stuff I have to discuss!

End of spoiler section!! You may proceed :)

Like the first book though, I liked the action scenes! Even if the plot they were part of was kinda clunky the way the fights played out were solid in my opinion. (And there were a couple times where some batshitery popped up mid-battle and I was like “OH FUCK!” and nibbled on my imaginary popcorn.)

Overall, it feels too harsh a descriptor to call this “worse” than TGO, but I just wasn’t vibing with it as much. All the gripes I had with book one were more prominent here; it felt like the feeling I had reading the ending was extended to approximately 300 more pages. (I’m aware the book is longer than that. The number is there for a reason because it wasn’t that the entire time.) Deka’s backstory stuff just gets increasingly convoluted.

But, with all that’s said and done, I’ll still be seeing how this series ends, because I enjoy most of it and am too far along this journey with these characters to just abandon them. Consider TGO a complicated favorite, if you will.

Book rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars.

Paz, signing off!

(Book trigger/content warnings: Torture, gore, PTSD, grief(death of a parent), references to homophobic and queerphobic abuse.)

#book talk #book review #booklr #the gilded ones #the merciless ones #namina forna

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typemercury94 · 1 year

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The tragic fate of Dunamis15

Dunamis15 was a minor game, hidden in the shadow of the popular "science adventure series", which is known for gems like "Chaos;Head Noah" and "Steins;Gate". Meanwhile, the new franchise of the "suspense fiction adventure" series was canceled after the failed success of Disorder6. Another reason might be the bad marketing decisions for both visual novels as well. There are several nice twists within Dunamis15, but the original summary on the package contained major spoilers. However, it was later fixed for the PSP Version, which even got additional content. In my opinion, it's a big shame due to the wasted potential.

That said, back to my review of Dunamis 15:

Story:

Future Japan. A global nuclear disaster caused the world's population to decrease significantly and the decline of the birth rate wasn't any help either. In result, the japanese government built a school on an artificial island (called Dunamis Base) to raise and educate healthy children. After graduating, the students were supposed to go back to Japan and contribute for society. However, the main character (Togo Takatsuki) who was about to graduate in a half year, still had no real perspective of his future. As he meets a mysterious girl, a certain event occure to make his daily life collapse..

I tink the world view and themes of this visual novel are quite heavy. First of all, it's a "time loop/mystery" adventure which isn't an uncommon genre mix these days. However, in case of Dunamis15, the time loop gimmick took a backseat and the psychological depiction of the characters was focused instead.

I think it is important, whether the characters are attractive or not, that you can empathize with them. In this game, typical stereotypes are not exaggerated and the true nature of each character is carefully explored with a special system. You experience multiple viewpoints of the main cast, which is playable in each of the 5 chapters.

Because of that, I was able to see the true intentions of certain individuals and didn't get bored of the linear structure. Unlike other "time loop" visual novels, the plot doesn't have a lot of foreshadowing, but I was fascinated how the truth was gradually revealed from each point of view.

So..by the end of the story, I was able to develop an attachment to each character.

MAJOR SPOILER SECTION

Within the several time loops, the main cast learn about the true purpose of "Dunamis Base". In reality, the island was a big research facility for collecting "excellent genes". All the students are clones, and none of them are aware of it. In fact, the tragic of an artificial being (which is merely a copy of a real individual), came to my mind and I was even more drawn into the story. At the end of each chapter (loop), the entire clones mysteriously go out of control and kill each other. It's later reveaeld that every clone is influenced by a microchip, which is implanted in their necks and connected to the peripheral nervous system. The scientists at dunamis base want to get rid of the clones as quickly as possible, in order to extract their DNA and continue the whole process all over again. In other words: The students were never suppose to leave the island alive.

All members of the main cast can recall the Events of each time loop, but they're not the only ones. Some enemies got the same privilige, what makes the story even more exciting.

As I mentioned earlier, the psychological condition of the main characters have a major significance in the story. Two of them have a great character development, after reapting each loop.

Worth mentioning are the small romance sub-plots, even tho you're not able to influence the outcome by yourself.

As for the Worldbuilding, the existence of human clones is kept as a secret and the general public is completely unaware of it. All of the gruesome experiments, alongside the discrimination of human clones, are a serious topic within the story. Many of the experiments were responsible for the death of "real humans", which the clones were based on. However, some of them are still alive and play a major role (allie or foe) in the story.

My only complain is the rushed execution of the true ending. I mentioned earlier that the characters are trapped in a "time loop", but the reason for that is the occult. The thoughts of ghosts, who are worried about the fate of their clones, have become a mysterious force and created the loop in order to stop the experiments. The conclusion is fine because the existence of ghosts was already established previously and it also fits to the backstory of some characters. However, everything so far was explained by mere science, so it was a bit weird how the writers handled it.

SPOILER SECTION END

Gameplay(System):

Dunamis15 is a kinect novel for the most part. There are several options aviable, but they're limited to bad endings or something that doesn't heavily affect the story. For example, you can unlock hidden CGs and extra scenes.

The flow chart is relatively simple, because the main story progress is displayed as a single road in the middle. If you look at the branches, which are merging as trapezoid around the single road, it's easy to understand wethere it's a bad ending or just an Alternative scene.

Graphics:

The CGs, backgrounds and character models are gorgeous. Megumi Nagahama did a great Job and I wish we would have more visual novels with her Artwork..

Sound:

youtube

The opening and ending themes are great, but i especially enjoy the background music. All of them create a great atmosphere and some of them even remind me about chaos;head. Well..it's not a big surprise because it was recorded by 5pb, who were also responsible for the OST of the science adventure series.

One of my favorite Soundtracks is "in cold blood", which is simple but effective as hell to create a very uncomfortable atmosphere.

youtube

Another favorite would be "pain of salvation", which fits perfectly to the disturbing and violent moments of the story.

youtube

The acting of the main cast was also powerful and it really helped me to get more invested into the story. Moreover, I was surprised by some seiyuus like Sumi Shimamoto and Yui Shouji, because it's kinda rare for them to appear in a visual novel.

Conclusion:

Dunamis15 is a thought-provoking story that questions the views of life, death and ethics, with a relateable message on top of that. It's better to focus on your present life, rather than regretting past mistakes and wanting to start over. Sadly, the conclusion of the story is kinda rushed, but still a good experience nevertheless.

The first entry of the "suspense fiction adventure" series is hard to recommend, because it doesn't have any localisation and was never released on PC. If you get a legal copy of the psp Version, it's still possible to read the vn with a Translation tool (emulator)

#Youtube #Dunamis15 #5pb #mages.#Megumi Nagahama #Suspense fiction adventure #science adventure #horror #psycho thriller #review #visual novel

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jimmycarterghostland · 2 months

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The thing I loved the most about the Lorien Legacies series: The entertainment it provided. No matter what, these books were never boring. Sure, it had a bunch of flaws, but I was addicted to the LL series. I definitely don't like them as much as I did before, and I criticize them a lot. But they were so unique, had great heartwarming moments, an alien war, etc.

The thing I hated the most: Six and Marina letting their Mogadorian enemy Phiri Dun-ra live. Twice in two different books! They even refused to torture her. I will never understand that one. She was a sadistic, evil Mog, too. It makes no sense for them to have so much sympathy for her, especially when Six is supposed to be a Mog-hating ruthless warrior. And Marina is supposed to be in angry mode. Them not killing Phiri even got Dust killed! There are a lot of out of character moments that ended up being in the later books, actually. Like Nine being okay with Adam, even though Nine despises Mogs more than any other character. That was weird.

My favorite character: Five. I'm still annoyed that he wasn't the blonde girl everyone believed Five would be before The Fall of Five came out. I was disappointed when I found out he was a guy, especially considering Adam's first novella mentioned a second blonde girl who wasn't One. Five was supposed to be a girl. He was an interesting, tough character, though. I loved him.

My favorite Lorien Legacies book: The Power of Six. It had the perfect balance of action and "quiet" scenes. Plus, Crayton was awesome in this novel(and still alive). Olivia the Chimera was a cool, Mogadorian-killing beast. And the fights in this book were so great. Especially John and Sam fighting in the Mogadorian mountain base, and the fight in Spain. Nine, Crayton, and Ella were great additions to this series. I think The Rise of Nine was objectively the best book in the series, though. I just prefer The Power of Six more.

My least favorite Lorien Legacies book: I Am Number Four. It's not as good as the books that came after it.

Why you should read the series: It uses the Found Family trope well. You can tell the characters love each other as if they were family. There are great, unique fights. The plot is unique as well.

Why you shouldn't read the series: Many plot holes, inconsistencies, out of character moments, and some plot twists that should have been foreshadowed earlier but didn't get foreshadowed early enough. Another issue is that all the characters sound the same in their introspection. As in, this is a multiple POV book series, and every character uses the same vocabulary and has the same personality in their inner monologues. You don't get a good feel of how the narrators view things, unlike the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which has characters with unique voices, narrators who are distinct from other narrators in the series, with their own personalities and vocabulary. Also, the plot twists in these books are so freaking obvious. Some of them aren't foreshadowed early enough, though, and actually don't make sense. Like Henri saying in his letter that there was a Number Ten, referring to Ella, but in later books, Ella is revealed to not be a Number at all. This irritated me. You can tell the authors added this plot twist in without realizing that would screw up the established facts in the series. That happens a lot in these LL books. Also, the prose is bland and there are no amazing dialogue lines or any non-dialogue lines in this series. Nothing that might make you go "Wow, that's deep."

My rating: Two out of five stars. The books are entertaining. Unfortunately, they don't age well. They're badly written. The numerous inconsistencies are irritating and make it impossible to predict plot twists, because so much gets retconned(like the brown-haired Five being a guy when all signs pointed to him being a blonde girl). There is no beauty or deepness found in the prose. All the different narrators sound alike. Like, if all the narrators' names were removed from the pages, you wouldn't be able to find out which character is narrating the chapter, because their mindsets and vocabulary are all the same. There is no distinct character voice. If you want to know what I mean by that, I'll give an example. Picture a novel with two different narrators. An old man and a five-year-old boy. A good writer would make the 5yo use simpler words in his narration. Like mentioning a building he's walking past as "big" instead of "huge". Or maybe he sees dogs mating and thinks they're wrestling, while the old man narrator would know the dogs are mating, and maybe he refers to the building as "huge" instead of big. Stuff like that is what I mean by distinct character voice. The Lorien Legacies series doesn't have that. All the narrators have the same lexicon in their prose. Same vocabulary. And they view the world in the same way the other narrators do, which is a problem when you're writing a multiple point of view novel. I don't recommend anyone reads the Lorien Legacies series.

#reading #books #lorien legacies #literature #james frey

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coffeeandfaeries · 7 months

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The Vampire Diaries: The Dark Reunion - A book review

L. J. Smith

I have finally finished the first four books in the book series! This one was great. It started off really creepy, but it kinda turned into your average supernatural teen novel, which I don’t necessarily mind. What I do mind is the sheer amount of typos? Was this book not edited? I started writing down typos, but gave up quickly because there were so many of them. Some of the typos that occurred multiple times were ri ght, tobe, chouse, of instead of if as in Of anyone, he should be able to do it and mm instead of him. Mm instead of him happened twice on the same page. But my personal favorite is Damon saying Are you frightened me. Instead of are you frightened/afraid of me.

But the story was fun, a lot less romance, probably because Elena is a little bit dead.

So, the plot. It’s been six months since Elena’s death and it’s Meredith’s 18th birthday. Caroline is planning a party, a surprise party. Because Meredith really looks like the type of person who loves surprises. Bonnie’s not really sure that’s a great idea, but Caroline convinces her. Bonnie says they should invite Vicki.

Bonnie goes home and dreams about Elena. They’re sitting down in a park having a picnic. Elena gives her a crust less cucumber and mayo sandwich and I just need to add that that sounds absolutely disgusting, this should’ve been the first sign that something is off. Elena goes on about how important hair is, and then adds blood is important too. Then everything starts changing. Elena’s sandwich turns into dirt, Bonnie’s into a dead mouse. Elena starts rotting and twisting in abnormal ways. Then Elena starts screaming, saying He’s twisting things, changing them. I’m not as strong as he is… Bonnie, understandably, starts freaking out. Just as she’s about to wake up, Elena tells her she needs to perform a spell with the two ingredients she’s told her. Bonnie then wakes up.

Bonnie somehow tricks Meredith into coming to Caroline’s house and the girls are all like Surprise!! And Meredith just wants to die. Caroline, Bonnie, Meredith, Sue and Vicki end up talking about Elena and death. Vicki then says how they never know how much time they have left and that any of them could die tonight. Totally not foreshadowing. They decide to try and contact Elena. Caroline tells Vicki to get the Ouija board out of the closet.

Vicki leaves and a few moments later they hear screaming from the hallway. They run out to check what’s going on and Vicki says something tried to grab her from inside the closet, they just chalked it up to nerves. Idiots. They then successfully manage to speak to Elena, who tells them they’re all in danger. Everyone in Fell’s Church. She tells them to run away, because He is in the house. Then something sent the Ouija board flying across the room and the lights went out.

I’m still pretty sure the He is Klaus. I mean no other vampire is strong enough to pull the shit this mysterious He has been pulling throughout the book.

Caroline leads them downstairs to the living room. Bonnie finds it unnerving how chill Caroline is, but assumes it’s because Caroline has no imagination. She says we’re scared of the darkness because of all the creepy shit we imagine in it, but Caroline simply doesn’t imagine anything and therefore has nothing to be afraid of. I thought this was suspicious at first, but it turned out to be a red herring.

The atmosphere was actually tense and creepy, but then the author absolutely destroyed it by hitting us with a Tinkle, tinkle. Maybe I’m just immature but it made me giggle, completely ruining the mood. I just imagined Klaus tinkling in the corner of the living room.

Caroline stopped holding Bonnie’s hand to go find the door, but never returned to get them. Sue and Vicki also disappeared a bit before that. Now, it was just Bonnie and Meredith. A big, sweaty, meaty hand grabbed Bonnie’s and she screamed, holding tightly onto Mer.

They somehow managed to find the stairs and went upstairs to find the other two girls. The upstairs looked as if it was struck by a meteor. Vicki was erratic, screaming that He did this and that she’s next. As Meredith and Bonnie got closer to the now destroyed balcony they noticed a body on the lawn below them. Sue’s body.

One thing I really wanna know is why them? Why Sue and Vicki in particular. Poor Vicki just keeps getting attacked by vampires. But, wouldn’t Meredith and Bonnie be more interesting to Klaus? Elena killed Katherine and as far as I understand, Klaus liked Katherine. But Elena’s dead, so there’s not much he can do about that. (He is technically tormenting her in the spirit realm, but he’s not doing much) Stefan and Damon would be the obvious next choice, they helped Elena, then we have Mer and Bonnie. Oh, Matt, too.

Bonnie and Meredith were technically friends with Sue and Vicki, but they weren’t really close. Sue was Caroline’s friend and Vicki was there because they felt bad for her, and Bonnie didn’t want Meredith to think that Caroline is using Sue as Elena’s replacement. I think they were nothing more than collateral damage.

The cops come, and we find out that Caroline was just in the front yard, too scared to come in and get them. Nothing happened to her. They question the girls and I’m pretty sure Vicki gets sent to a psychiatrist. Obviously, Vicki isn’t doing too well. This poor girl just can’t catch a break.

The cops came to the conclusion that there was no foul play. The lights just went out and the girls panicked, leading to one of them accidentally falling to her death. And Vicki is well, Vicki. She has a history of erratic behavior and horrible mental health. To put it simply, cops think she’s just crazy and paranoid.

The next day they just go back to school as if nothing happened. Well, Bonnie and Meredith do, Vicki isn’t doing well and is at this point either at home or talking to a professional. If my kid witnessed a death, accidental or violent, I don’t think I’d send them back to school the morning after? I feel like this warrants at least one day off. But whatever.

Bonnie runs into Tyler who’s definitely not being suspicious or anything. He mocks them for being scared and says Sue wouldn’t have died if they weren’t screaming in the living room the entire time. But they have never told anyone they were in the living room, maybe the cops, but it was never released to the general public. That’s when Bonnie realizes something, Tyler’s hand feels the same as the hand that grabbed her that night.

They decide to perform a spell to get in contact with Stefan and ask for his help. The spell Elena was talking about, and the two ingredients they need is Stefan’s hair and his blood. So obviously, they send Matt to gather the ingredients. Matt is once again, doing their dirty work. When am I getting my own Matt, universe?

I kinda thought the blood was gonna be a bit of an issue. Stefan has light hair, Damon has black hair, so it should be fairly easy to make sure you’re only taking Stefan’s hair. But blood? How are you meant to figure out whose blood is smeared on the walls? However, this isn’t an issue for Matt, apparently he’s a blood connoisseur and easily finds Stefan’s blood.

Bonnie successfully contacts Stefan, who went back to Italy. With Damon. Stefan immediately packs his stuff and heads back to Fell’s Church, surprisingly Damon comes with him. At first he says it was because Matt fucked up and took some of his hair as well. But later we find out that wasn’t the case, Damon wanted to come along and help, but was too embarrassed to admit it. lol.

They arrive quickly and the five of them immediately head to Stefan’s old house. The place Mrs. Flowers owns. She is still a little weird. Somehow she knew they were hiding in the boarding house and she brought them grape juice and cookies. I think she’s at least aware of the supernatural, but she doesn’t seem evil. I think she may be one of my favorite characters, she seems really sweet.

Vicki’s condition has been getting worse and worse with every day. She looks horrible, she’s losing weight and is having nightmares every single night. She doesn’t even leave her room, let alone her house. Can’t blame her, I don’t think I’d be doing too well either if I were her.

Stefan wanted to check Sue’s body to see if his theory that the perpetrator is a vampire checks out. However, when they arrived they realized that the marks on her body don’t match those a vampire would leave. No bite marks, but there’s a cut on her chest. It looks like a cut a vampire would make on themselves to let a human drink their blood. But as far as they know, Sue wasn’t a vampire.

Slightly off topic, but I’m checking my notes to make sure I don’t forget anything because it’s been a month since I’ve finished this book and one of the notes just says: Damon is so insecure. I have absolutely no idea what I was talking about, nor why it follows a note that just says Are Matt and Bonnie gonna kiss? I love when I write down a super short, vague note and completely forget what I was talking about. 😁👍

Again slightly off topic, but why don’t Damon and Stefan speak to one another in Italian? They were born in Italy, spent their whole human lives in Italy, probably most of their vampire lives as well. Bonnie says they both spoke English with an accent when they first arrived, so why on Earth would they speak English when it’s just the two of them. Obviously, a whole dialogue in Italian wouldn’t make sense if the whole book is in English, but you could at least mention the conversation is in Italian, but write it in English. It just doesn’t make sense? I suppose you could argue that we’re just supposed to assume they’re talking in Italian, like that’s a given she doesn’t even need to mention it. Although I highly doubt that’s the case.

Oh right, the plot. My bad. Anyway, Stefan has an idea. He doesn’t want to tell anyone what the idea is because innocent people might get hurt if he’s wrong. I don’t see how that would happen if the only people who know are Bonnie, Meredith and Matt. It’s not like they’re known for their bravery and willingness to physically attack without thinking first, but okay.

Stefan says he needs to learn more about the history of Fell’s Church and needs the records to do so, so he goes to the library to read Honoria Fell’s diary. Now, I suppose that a diary from someone who lived in the historical period you’re researching is wonderful and gives you a perspective on how some people thought and what they believed in back then, but it’s still a diary. It’s historically accurate, obviously, but it’s still likely to be at least a bit subjective. Nevertheless, he finds the information he needs.

We don’t really find out much about the history of the town or Stefan’s theory. However, I think that the founding families of Fell’s Church performed some sort of ritual and sacrificed someone in order to found the town. Founding families were the Fells, the Forbes, the Smallwoods and the Gilberts. I think that they might be trying to do this again. But since the Gilberts and the Fells are all dead now, it’s just the Smallwoods and the Forbes. I think that the ritual has something to do with Klaus. So Tyler and Caroline are acting weird because they’re planning something.

Spoiler alert: I was right, kinda, but also wrong.

Matt has a bit of an existential crisis. He gets super cynical and is all like bleghh who cares nothing matters we could never fix the world bleh bleh bleh. But Stefan gives him a I’m-14-and-this-is-deep speech about how it’s important to try no matter what, and how it’s better to die knowing you did all you could then to live with the regret of never even trying to help. Immediately Matt’s whole worldview shifts and he’s like Yeah! Let’s fight! If teenage boys are this easily influenced no wonder men like Andrew Tate are so successful, Jesus Christ.

While Stefan and Matt were in the library looking for Honoria Fell’s journal, Bonnie and Mer were watching Vicki. Then Mer fell asleep and Bonnie felt like she’s about to fall asleep too so she decided to get out of the house to get some fresh air, walk over and check on Vicki. But she doesn’t have a key to get back in. Uh oh. I thought Klaus was gonna show up and Bonnie wouldn’t be able to get back into the house, but nope. Another red herring.

However, someone does show up. Damon. This is when we get the lovely Are you frightened me? Quote from Damon. Thank you editor, for all the wonderful typos in this book. I wonder if this book wasn’t edited or if there were so many mistakes in the original manuscript that they just couldn’t fix all of them. Anyway, Damon leans in and kisses Bonnie. Stefan and Matt show up and get all paternalistic with Bonnie. It’s unclear if she kissed him or if she was compelled. I believe she kissed him, but she let Stefan and Matt believe Damon compelled her.

The Scooby Gang concocted a plan to capture and kill the killer. After graduation, in September. We still don’t know what the plan is. Also it’s June now. Doesn’t matter though, the next chapter begins with their graduation ceremony.

Bonnie and Meredith start fake arguing. Meredith is “mad” at Bonnie for celebrating when Elena is dead and will never have the chance to graduate. She calls Bonnie a whore for dating Matt, Elena’s ex. Bonnie slaps her in response. Meredith adds, very loudly, that she’ll go to the cemetery at night to put flowers on Elena’s grave. I think she’s trying to see if someone is gonna take the bait and follow her there. But who? I mean, it has to be Tyler, right?

Bonnie walks over to Matt and confirms my theory that this was orchestrated to bait someone. She says, And don’t you think you should put your arm around me? Just to show you’re on my side and there’s no chance you’re going to show up at Elena’s grave tonight with Meredith.

For a moment I actually thought Bonnie and Matt got together, to be fair they did have chemistry. Unfortunately Matt is forever loyal to Elena, I’d be surprised if he manages to get a girlfriend any time soon.

To no one’s surprise, the person who took the bait and followed Meredith to the graveyard was Tyler. Wow, who would’ve guessed. At first Tyler and Meredith only talked. They talked about Elena and how she’s the light in the darkness. Then he said there’s always more in the darkness. To which Mer replied with Sooner or later the sun will come up. But Tyler then said But the moon comes up first. Am I overthinking it or is this another hint at him being a werewolf?

He asked her if she sees a huge white orb that’s in front of his family tomb. Then added once the moon is up you’ll see better. As if the white orb, that’s totally not supposed to represent a moon, wasn’t enough. Tyler then tells her he knows about vampires, but he isn’t one. I think that was their theory? That Tyler was a vampire and that he was the one who killed Sue? He did. He was there that night with Klaus. In order for his werewolf curse to manifest he needed to kill someone and taste his blood. Which explains the cut on her chest.

The moon comes out and Tyler transforms into a werewolf. Okay but I remember pointing out they (Bonnie and Mer) often joke about Tyler’s teeth and animalistic behavior and wondered if it’s a hint. They brought it up again now!! Saying how they used to joke about it. I suppose it’s not really funny now.

Also nevermind, apparently he didn’t kill her. How the fuck is he transforming now then? This makes no sense. I think that the author wanted this to be a mystery, but instead of crafting a well planned mystery she just decided to confuse the readers instead. The vampire apparently wanted to kill Bonnie and Meredith, but he’s instead targeting the other two girls.

Finally, the rest of the group emerges from the shadows and beats the shit out of Tyler. They tie him up and take him to the crypt to question him. He doesn’t want to talk because he’s scared of Klaus. But then Stefan threatens to sever his limbs and he starts talking. We find out that the only thing that can hurt Him is ash wood. From now on I’ll just call him Klaus because this was basically a confirmation that this is indeed him. I may sound like a hypocrite because I don’t like Damon since he’s a killer who has no remorse, but hehe I’m so excited Klaus is my favorite.

Apparently while they were with Tyler, Klaus went after Vicki. Which again, makes no sense, even Tyler said Klaus didn’t care about Sue and Vicki, he just wanted Bonnie and Mer. So why even bother going after the other two girls? Why did he forget Caroline? None of this makes any sense. The only explanation I can think of is him wanting to get rid of eye witnesses, but then again, why would he care about that, he’s like millennia old.

Also, at this point we’re only 58% through the book.

They rush to get to Vicki’s house, leaving Tyler in the crypt. Unfortunately when they get there Vicki’s already dead. Her blood coating the floor and the walls of her bedroom. Vicki was such an unnecessary character, the only purpose she served was to be tortured by vampires, poor girl.

Apparently Damon was supposed to watch over her and Stefan starts yelling at him, calling him selfish. Stefan thought that Damon couldn’t be arsed to save Vicki. Damon for whatever reason refused to explain what happened, and just went Fuck you >:( I’ll just leave since you hate me so much!!! And ran away. God I really hate the miscommunication trope. Literally all Damon had to do was say that Klaus was the killer and that would’ve solved the issue. Stefan would’ve known that there was no way Damon alone could’ve saved Vicki from him. But nooo, he just has to be dramatic. Man you’re a grown ass vampire, not a teenager.

Meredith and Matt went back home, but Bonnie stayed with Stefan to talk to him about something. I thought she was gonna talk to him about channeling Elena and all the visions/dreams she’s had about her. Which technically wasn’t wrong, they talked about that too, but Bonnie wanted to offer Stefan her blood. He, of course, refused. Because why would you want to be strong while facing the most powerful vampire on earth. Yeah, I think a few bunnies and a dove will suffice.

Stefan told Bonnie that she can reach out to him while she’s channeling Bonnie and drag him into the dream, so he can speak to Elena. Elena officially confirms that the vampire is Klaus, which we already knew, and tells them to find Klaus’ victim (one that survived, obviously) and speak to them. To which Stefan said he’s going to “Europe” to look for someone who was attacked by Klaus. Not like one person in particular, but just aimlessly wander Europe until he finds someone. My brother in Christ, you are European, you know how big Europe is. I know you’re a vampire, but I think the person would die of old age before you manage to find them.

Bonnie realized that Klaus doesn’t have an accent and knows about music from the 50s which must mean he’s been in the US for quite some time. Because you couldn’t possibly learn to speak a language without an accent in less than 50 years, or listen to 50s music in 90s. That would be impossible. She then theorizes that Klaus must’ve been the vampire who attacked Meredith’s grandpa.

Also, I could’ve sworn Meredith said her grandpa died and was buried, so how is he now in a mental institution? Anyway, they visit her grandpa and he’s in a catatonic state, but calm, until Stefan tries to speak to him, then he starts screaming Vampire and White ash wood. The nurse asks them to leave.

Stefan receives a package from Klaus. There’s a note attached to it. Klaus has Caroline and wants Stefan to come and talk to him. Alone, if Stefan brings back up Caroline will be killed. Stefan is once again trying to put all the blame on himself. The rest of the group wants to help, if not by coming with him at least by giving him blood. He refuses and says he’ll kill them if they even try to come help him. I don’t know if this was meant to show how brave and honorable Stefan is, but all it does is make him look like an annoying asshole. He speaks so much about a cause being greater than him as a single individual, but when it comes to it he refuses to compromise his “morals” for the greater good. Not even sure it counts because Stefan refuses to drink without consent and I’m pretty sure they consent. But, whatever.

Of course, they won’t actually let him face Klaus by himself, especially since he’s so weak, (weaker than usual btw) so they follow him. Stefan thankfully remembered to bring the white ash wood stake with him, so at least he came prepared. I think this is supposed to be like the big boss battle of the book, but we have about 20% left in the book.

The rest of them are hiding in the bushes, and I would really love to know how Klaus can’t hear them. He’s a vampire, an extremely strong one, and he can’t hear their heartbeats? How is that even possible? Anyway, Matt is strategizing to which Bonnie thinks: No wonder he’s a quarterback. I would’ve just rushed in, yelling. This isn’t important for the plot. I just thought it was really relatable and had to share it.

Tyler attacks Stefan from above, but Bonnie warns him right on time. A fight ensues, Bonnie beats the shit out of Tyler, but not before he could seriously hurt Meredith. Bonnie left Matt to take care of Meredith and went over to help Stefan, but froze in the middle of the field. I have no idea what she was trying to do honestly, she’s not even good at magic like Bonnie in the TV show.

I think that because throughout the book Bonnie kept insisting she isn’t useless, dumb or a coward this was supposed to be her big moment, where she proves them all wrong.

Thankfully, Damon showed up and attacked Klaus. Stefan was on the ground, Damon got quickly beaten up by Klaus, Meredith and Matt are humans and in no condition to help, it’s just Klaus and Bonnie now. I thought she was gonna summon her ancestors to help her beat Klaus, but instead she summoned Elena and the spirits of soldiers. The spirits dragged Klaus away while Elena healed everyone.

Elena then said her goodbyes because she now has to move on. As in permanently. I was at this point wondering how they’re gonna bring her back, because there is no way there are 9 more books without Elena. But instead Elena became a white light, then was resurrected. And the book ends there.

Honestly, it would’ve been better if Bonnie had performed some ritual instead. Necromancy would’ve made more sense. Instead Elena just came back to life. Does this mean her corpse is now missing? Is this another body? How exactly does this work? Feels like L. J. Smith wrote herself into a corner and had no idea how to resolve this so she decided a random miracle was the best solution.

I think this one was my least favorite one so far. It was entertaining, sure, but so much of it just didn’t make sense, there were so many mistakes and it just felt rushed? I still enjoyed it, but I think I’ll need to take a little break from this series before I can continue.

Rating: ⛤⛤⛤

#bookworm #booklr #books and reading #bookblr #books & libraries #books #reading #booklover #book review

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libertyreads · 1 year

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Book Review #132 of 2022--

Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Rating: 2.5 stars.

Read from November 27th to 30th.

Another book has been knocked off my 40 Books Before 40 Challenge. At this point, it really seems like it should have been called 40 Books Before 34 Challenge. Hyperfixation, am I right? I added this one to the list because it was pretty popular when it came out but at that point in my life I wasn’t reading a lot of Science Fiction. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten into more and more Sci-Fi. Which might be the reason I didn’t love this one? After reading the entirety of The Expanse series (novels and novellas) during 2022, I should have known that this one wouldn’t stand up to it.

But let’s start with the good: I found the characters to be pretty realistic. Is there a moment or two in the book where the villain is twirling his mustache? Of course. However, I found the other main characters to be realistic and interesting. I enjoyed seeing the dynamic between Amy and Elder change as the story went along. I also really enjoyed the friendship between Amy and Harley. I wish there was more of that throughout the novel.

The things I had the most trouble with were: 1) how clearly each plot point was telegraphed, 2) having to question how the science works almost the entire time, 3) how quickly Amy seems poised to forgive Elder. First, I hate the argument that a well structured and plotted twist is bad. I hate when people say they hate the ending to something because there was foreshadowing. But this felt more like giant neon signs leading the reader from one plot point to the next. I didn’t need to think for myself at all because the author just led me along the entire time. Second, maybe it’s me being a snob. One of the things I loved when reading The Expanse was always feeling like the science just made sense. I never had to wonder if the authors or the characters knew what they were talking about. And now that I’m reading something where the science is never really explained to the reader I’m asking all sorts of questions. Which isn’t really what you want. I wish I could have turned off that part of my brain and just suspended my disbelief. At the very end of the novel, Elder reveals something he’s been hiding from Amy. Something that is gigantic and something that I would absolutely never forgive someone for. Yet...She doesn’t say she forgives him on the last page, but it definitely seems like she’s about to. Which I don’t approve of. Let her be pissed. Let her go off. Let her hold a grudge. Let their relationship be strained with the weight of this truth while they still have to lean on each other for support. Because that’s a lot more interesting and a lot more realistic.

#across the universe #40 books before 40 #40 before 40 #books read in 2022 #2022 reading challenge #goodreads challenge #goodreads #booklr #bookblr #bookish #books #young adult #ya #young adult lit #book review #Beth revis

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thewhizzyhead · 3 years

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so um yea if you guys thought that tag ramble about having an eva-ish lead in a musical called "Grade 11" was long, then guys i am so sorry cause that is like the least of your problems cause i have even more concept rambles about my many other ideas prepared. oh God.

#LET'S LIST THEM ALL SHALL WE #Misfits - musical i started writing when i was 13 so yea a lot of things changed #current version is about a musical about musical narrators presenting a musical about placing three 'troubled teens' in 1ce bethlehem #to make them become 'fixed' by faith and all yadda yadda AND HOW VERY WRONG IT IS #(it's a jab on most of the musicals my sunday school has presented and it's also a jab to myself when i first wrote this)#(i personally call it Fourth-Wall Breaking: The Musical)#it was gonna be a legit production at my church (i was supposed to work with a professional music team and everything) but i stopped #cause burnout and pettiness (i have some admittedly one sided beef with some church stuffs) and because i didnt like the initial concept #but i will write it someday #Kasaysayan - thought of this when i was 14. kinda wanted a musical about the entirety of ph history #while also exploring different kinds of music and dances in the philippines throughout history #and yea That Will Never Ever Work #could be good as a one time or limited prod but probably never as an actual prod cause yea way too much work #could be good as a concept album tho #also kasaysayan means history #next one #Noli/Fili - musical adaptation of noli me tangere and el filibusterismo (national novels here) but make it have noli in act 1 and el fili in #act 2 #and have the el fili protagonist narrate act 1 through his own eyes and have noli protag do the same to act 2 #and have it foreshadow A LOT of the plot twists in the novel series #I genuinely want this to work someday #oh yea it's ph rock-rap based #oki next #next is Patron - a kinda modern version of the character dynamics in noli me tangere and el filibusterismo #also i made it gay #it's about journalism and activism and revolution #has a lot of elements from dw spring awakening #main protag named Cris Ibarra can be played by any gender (altho i really want it to be a nonbinary exclusive role)#I GENUINELY WANT THIS TO WORK FJJSD IF I CANT PURSUE MT THEN GOD PLEASE LET ME WRITE THIS ALBEIT VERY AMATEURISHLY INSTEAD #anyways there are A LOT more but those are the first three musicals i've come up with so if u wanna know more hit me up with an ask jfjxjs

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celiabowens · 4 years

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underrated SFF books (YA and Adult)

So uhm, since I keep seeing the same books on my dash all the time (and I like them too, just...there’s more! to read!) here’s a list of less popular SFF books, divided into YA and Adult. I’ve tried to mention when there is lgbt rep and the trigger warnings. Also, books written by poc will be in bold. Please point out any typo or mistake or if I’ve forgotten specific rep/tw mentions.

All of these are books that I’ve read and enjoyed (by enjoyed I mean anything from 3 stars and above), but if anyone wants to add titles please feel free to do so!!

YA:

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi: beautifully written, fairytale-like story rich in mythology (inspired by several Hindu myths. There’s a full list on goodreads indicated by the author herself). Roshani’s prose is gorgeous.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi: it’s a companion novel to The Star-Touched Queen, but both can be read as a standalone. I liked this one more than its companion and I particularly loved how the romance was written (slow burn, but specifically, the author really highlights the mutual respect between the characters, we love to see it).

The Young Elites by Marie Lu: fantasy trilogy set in a world inspired by Renaissance Italy, in which children who survived a mysterious and deadly illness ended up with strange and dangerous powers. Secret societies and a female villain!

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: historical fantasy following Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, a girl as talented as her brother, but afraid of being forgotten because of the lack of opportunities she has to be seen and heard. Nuanced sibling relationship, no romance.

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski: fantasy f/f romance! Both a coming of age story set in a society with a rigid class system and a slow burn f/f romance with a lot of banter. TW: abuse.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: magical realism. The book follows two families of traveling performers that have been locked in a feud for over a generation. This was the author’s debut and I remember getting an arc of it and being impressed by both the prose and how the forbidden love trope was handled.

When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: another magical realism novel. One of the main characters is a trans boy and the book focuses on issues of racism and gender. One of my favorite YA!

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton: fantasy romance set in a village that periodically sacrifices a young man in order to keep a deal with the devil that ensures their prosperity. Also, polyamorous and non-binary rep.

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee: first book in a duology following avatar Kyoshi’s life. It explores the political and cultural aspect of the Earth Kingdom and Kyoshi’s past. Bisexual rep.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: sort of a murder mystery fantasy, as the main character finds herself suddenly thrust into power once her father has been murdered. The story has a slow build up to a last part full of twists and machinations and it features lots of court intrigue. Warning: the ending is quite open and afaik there isn’t a sequel planned as of now.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones: a quite unique take on zombies influenced by Welsh mythology (it’s super cool). The novel follows Ryn and their siblings, as they try to get by after their parents’ death by working as gravediggers. Only well, the dead don’t always stay dead. The characters read a bit younger than they are imo. There is chronic pain rep.

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas: retelling of the original ballad of Mulan. The book follows Mulan, who’s trained her whole life to win a duel for a priceless heirloom, as she joins the army. There’s a lot of political and historical details, which I really appreciated. Do not go into it expecting a fun adventure though. The descriptions of war aren’t extremely graphic, but be aware of the fact that most of the book is set during a conflict.

The Candle and The Flame by Nafiza Azad: standalone fantasy set in a city on the Silk Road! It’s a quite slow-paced tale about love, family and politics. It has lush descriptions of landscapes and cultures (and FOOD, there are some really great descriptions of food). It’s a very atmospheric book and while I struggled a bit with the pace I’d still recommend it.

Forest of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao: sort of an East Asian inspired retelling of Snow White, but following the Evil Queen before she became Snow White’s stepmother. I honestly haven’t read its sequel (which should focus on Snow White herself), but I do think this can be read and enjoyed as a standalone too.

The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner: it’s hard to point out exactly what this series is about because it has evolved so much with time. It starts out as classic quest/adventure series with The Thief (which may seem a classic and simple book, but is actually full of foreshadowing and has a really clever set up), but develops into a complex and intriguing political fantasy in The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia (and then goes back to the quest theme in book 5, Thick as Thieves).

Adult:

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong: I’m cheating with this one because it’s technically a short story but I love Alyssa Wong’s stories so I’m putting it here anyway. It can be read for free and you should just...read it.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome. Please make sure you check all the TW before reading.

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang: a Japanese-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri: first book in an epic fantasy duology inspired by Mughal India (TW: abuse, slavery). I really liked both Empire of Sand and its companion and I find them pretty underrated. Both books have great slow burn romance (with a focus on mutual trust and respect) and focus on culture, religion, self acceptance and politics.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. It’s a great approach to adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human (this trope is everything!).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. The trilogy as a whole has one of the best arcs I’ve ever seen: each book is perfectly self-contained and has its own arc, but also fits perfectly in the bigger picture of the trilogy. The atmosphere is amazing, the cast of characters is extremely well developed. Also frost demons are better than men.

The Binding by Bridget Collins: historical fantasy, but with very minimal fantasy elements. It’s set in a world vaguely reminiscent of 19th century England. I’d say this book is about humans and self discovery. It’s about cowardice and the lies we tell ourselves and those we wish we could tell ourselves. Gay rep. (TW: abuse, sexual assault, pretty graphic suicide scene).

The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Set in a Venice-like merchant city. Also, slow burn f/f romance.

Jade City by Fonda Lee: sort of a gangster urban fantasy, heavily inspired by wuxia and set in an Asian-inspired metropolis. It follows a pretty big cast of characters, each with their own journey and development. It features nuanced family dynamics and a lot of political and economical subplots. Not extremely prominent, but book 2 features m/m side rep.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse: inspired by Native American culture and specifically by the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. TW: the book isn’t extremely violent but there is death and some gore.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn f/f romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks). I ranted a lot about it already.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault, abuse). I also really recommend Yoon Ha Lee’s short-story collection Conservation of Shadows.

The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. f/f romance.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed. f/f side rep.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans. I really like how creative Clark’s worlds are and how good he is at writing female characters (which rarely happens with male authors).

The haunting of tram car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark: novella set in an alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It’s set in the same world of a Dead Djinn in Cairo, which is a short story you can read for free.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: epistolary novella set during a time-travel war. It has gorgeous writing and an amazing f/f romance. As a novella, it’s quite short but it’s beautifully crafted and so complex for such a short book!

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake: self-published urban fantasy following two rival families in New York. Sort of a Romeo and Juliette retelling but with gangster families and magic. Honestly recommend all of her books, I love how Olivie writes and especially how she writes female characters.

#book recs #book recommendations #adult sff #ya literature #lgbt fiction #litblr #listen this doesn't show in tags i'm DONE #done with this tagging system lol #also if there are mistakes please tell me!!#book rec

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demonslayedher · 3 years

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You mentioned wanting to discuss the flaws and writing mistakes of kny- care to elaborate? I didn't notice anything when I read it, so I'm, like, genuinely curious

'Sup, Anon! When I've made that comment in the past, it was in reference to how the storytelling goes against a lot of conventional writing advice, rather than in reference to anything like continuity errors. I've discussed in the past how these errors seem glaring at first but how there's actually a lot of depth and research on traditional culture that went into this series (I'll copy and paste a little of that post here), and I'll also be pulling in a lot of personal impressions (more of that over here on how I hated most of the characters at first.) This is all keeping in mind that a weekly serialized manga must be told in a different format that, say, a polished novel, but some of the flaws remain. Still, as my obsessive love for this series keeps growing deeper and deeper, I've come to happily overlook a lot of that and accept it for being part of KnY's style.

To borrow from that first linked post:

From the perspective of the craft of writing, Gotouge is clearly a novice. While Kimetsu is not a debut work, it’s nearly that, which is why Gotouge only got so big of a deal on anime rights due to (previous) lack of name recognition. It commits all kinds of writing sins; the flashbacks were never hinted to until they become relevant, contrived conveniences move the plot, and I’ve never seen more egregious use of telling instead of showing.

These were all things that a friend and I took to calling "Kimetsu Logic." I'm going to go into these a bit more, but while I did come out and call Gotouge a novice writer, I don't want to overlook the very, very good decisions that were made as well. Some of that may have been due to the help of seasoned editors, who provided Gotouge a lot of guidance, and some of it is probably Gotouge's natural gut for making an engaging story. Ultimately, all a story has to do is keep you curious enough to keep following it, and in the end no writing advice is the end-all, be-all rule of storytelling. And I did immediately go on to say:

But despite all that, it’s told with a lot of heart. The core bonds between people and character motivations drive the story beyond all those execution flaws. The premise is straightforward and hits on core classic themes found throughout human history of fiction. It’s that lack of nuance sometimes, as well as the pure love put into these characters, that sometimes makes me feel like I’m watching a little alligator child play with action figures and light up as they pause the pretend dialogue to tell you all kinds of exciting things about the world they are having the toys fly through whilst also making ‘bang, pow’ sound effects as they resume play.

While those paragraphs are pretty much my whole statement, here are some examples that come to mind:

Flashbacks never hinted to until they become relevant

Hinokami Kagura is a big one, but that was played off with so much drama that I totally forgive it, and there was indeed very slight foreshadowing with Haganezuka's comments on Tanjiro's appearance. But a few others: --Tanjiro picking up techniques from Zenitsu and Inosuke. We see Tanjiro dive into pretty vivid and interesting flashbacks in the heat of battle against Upper Moons, and these made me really confused, like, "when did that happen!? How did I forget about this conversation!? Wait!! Wait, Gotouge, go back, give me this interaction!!" --Likewise, the big bombshell about Zenitsu being abandoned coming up very casually in Inosuke's mid-battle flashback was jarring --And while we're at it, we only got to know about Inosuke's special little pinky-promise bond with Shinobu when it was too late to appreciate it --And what the hell, when did Zenitsu punch those guys talking bad about Kaigaku!? Let me see this, that would had twisted the knife in Kaigaku's betrayal so much worse if we knew Zenitsu's feelings toward him earlier and could be curious instead of only knowing Kaigaku as the Mean Peach Guy! You know, just as a few examples of things we could had gotten and enjoyed in real time, but just didn't. It's really just part of Kimetsu's style to sprinkle the past throughout the battles, and it does help break up the monotony of constant action. However, there are times when it is done better to add an emotional element, and help show a relationship or aspect of a character we wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to see in canon: --Tanjiro talking with human Nezuko while he's conked out in the battle against Daki and Gyutaro, since we don't otherwise get to know human Nezuko much, and that interaction played in well to Nezuko's concurrent developments in battle --Zenitsu recalling what his life has been like thus-far and how pitiful that it'll end with him turning into a spider --Muichiro recovering his own forgotten memories, and Mitsuri's life flashing before her eyes were structurally well-placed and didn't cut too deeply in to the action, they developed the characters enough for us to appreciate the developments in the story Sometimes, revealing the flashback by surprise in the midst of battle really helped increase the tension and twists: --Kanao already having known Shinobu's plan against Douma --Muzan learning the details of the medicine and how Tamayo developed it together with Shinobu The reason I find these worked especially well was because there was some foreshadowing. We know that Tamayo was sought out by Kagaya, we know that Muzan has had this medicine in his system from the beginning of the battle, we know that Shinobu was fretful about something and then chose to let Kanao in on a secret, we know that Tamayo helped Shinobu perfect her poison for Douma, so when it all comes together that these two brilliant ladies had planned something way worse than Muzan initially thought, it was richly satisfying to see just how deep their partnership got. And, as an added bonus, although the additional dose of medicine felt too easy and contrived, we still got the long emotional payoff of seeing Shinobu let Kanao in on another secret: she's built a lot of respect for Tamayo. Flashbacks have more pay-off when there was set-up for them, and foreshadowing builds our appetite and curiosity for what is to come.

Contrived conveniences move the plot

The biggest offender: Nezuko slept the whole time Tanjiro trained and woke up as soon as that plot arc was over. Likewise, Nezuko stays out of sight any time her presence would weigh down Tanjiro's progression in the story. (On the other hand, the sunlight intolerance is kind of a genius tool written into the plot.) Another big offender: Tanjiro is a demon! Oh wait, nevermind. (I do appreciate that the "it worked because he was recently a demon" thing foreshadowed by Yushiro's commentary on Kaigaku. Can you tell I really appreciate foreshadowing?) Some tiny offenders whom I love: Where are the boys hiding their swords? It's okay, the Muscle Mice will bring them! Kimetsu Logic~~ While a lot of other things look like conveniences on the surface, I'm happy to accept them as lore which functions as plot devices, like the Kasugai-garasu being used for seemingly instantaneous communication (while also having their own limitations, because every good tool needs its limitations). Tanjiro running into Muzan so early on, Tanjiro knowing such a powerful Breath, and even Nezuko being a special demon who can master the sun all seem like contrived conveniences on a first read through, but when you get down to analyze it, there actually is a lot of subtle, legit logic for them built into the plot. While it's stated that Nezuko underwent a change in the two year nap, though, the timing is still unforgivably convenient. This could had been done in a less contrived way, like she woke up at random intervals, and maybe had some extra interactions on her own with Urokodaki. That would had made her reunion with him later on that much sweeter, if we actually had a taste of the two of them bonding beyond, "yeah, she's that demon asleep in my house who I whisper things too, my student tells me she's a very nice girl." (Again, set-up leads to pay-off.)

Egregious use of telling instead of showing

Ahaha... ha.... hahahaha......... I could point you anywhere in the manga for this, and you can all probably think of your own examples. The adage "show don't tell" is hammered into any writer's brain, but Gotouge took one look at that advice and said, "no, thank you."

I think a lot of this is born from the fact that Gotouge had so much to tell. Another vivid piece of writing advice is "kill your babies," in reference to the editing stage when you have to eliminate things that drag down the plot or don't actually contribute much to the characters, even if you, the author, love it. Gotouge looked at this advice and said, "I don't want to kill them, but if you insist. First, can I tell you a few secrets about them?"

Writing is hard. Cramming in all the details about your characters is hard, especially in a serialized format, especially if you aren't sure if your points are coming across clearly in simply "showing." For example, we see Zenitsu fall asleep at Shoichi's feet and then burst into action and then wake up again with no idea what just happened, but Gotouge didn't seem confident in that, and had to summarize for us what was happening as it happened, and then right after it happened. Ufotable chose to let the showing take the stage and trust viewers to figure it out, though they had the advantage of being much showier in animation. When they felt something needed to be explained, they found a way for the characters to do it in a way that felt true to the characters (though most of the character-driven info dumping was already said by characters in the manga). Gotouge, meanwhile, leaned into that narrator voice. And, being the obsessed fangirl I am, I find that the narrator voice has become part of the irreplaceable, endearing style of the KnY manga. "Kimetsu Logic" is part of what makes this manga so lovable, surprising, fresh, and inviting.

Some other grievances

As already stated in a few paragraphs, writing is hard. But that doesn't excuse how much of the story you'd only know by being a die-hard fan who reads all the supplementary material. If we consider the chapters as they ran in Shounen Jump publications to be the primary canon, then those readers have no idea about a slew of details which flesh out the characters or clarify important points in the story, which you'd only get from reading the volumes compiled with author notes and a plethora of Taisho Secrets (I love Taisho Secrets, but still).

Still more, the reason we as a fandom go so crazy for the fanbooks is because it's Word of God-touge, it's canon we only know because of these outside, and sometimes post-canon publications. It's not just little details like favorite foods and birthdates either, there are details which can totally alter how you may interpret some of the characters and their relationships, which we'd preferably like to see built into the context of canon.

And then we have the novels and gaiden, which you can generally accept as canon, even if they aren't produced by Gotouge. But it's not just fun side stories, there are major episodes in main characters' histories which only get presented in these sorts of outside materials. For example, you could buy all 23 volumes of the manga and have no idea whatsoever that Shinobu and Mitsuri are very close and friendly, for their only interactions are Shinobu handing Mitsuri a handkerchief in a Taisho Secret and, Mitsuri witnesses Shinobu burn Maeda's uniform (which says more about Shinobu and Maeda's relationship than about Shinobu and Mitsuri's). So, while there's enough of a flashback about, say, Sanemi's relationship with Masachika that you could appreciate that from canon alone, you'd have no clue that Himejima was the one who got the Kocho girls started, or that Mitsuri was Rengoku's student. And dang it, in a series where the characters and Gotouge's love for them are what drives it, this is what I want.

As much as I appreciate that the manga said what it needed to and then ended and didn't waste an arc (I'll get to that), I think it could have stood to be longer, and take its time with things. While it was harder to take risks during its whirlwind publication under an unknown author to meander into flashback arcs, in the long run, the story could had benefited from them. And, as much as I loved the fact that this series stayed on task (again, I'll get to that), it could had benefited from some filler to sprinkle in some more time to relax and bond with this cast before throwing them into a battle which spans that last 1/3 of the series and leaves most of them dead.

Some praise where it is due

This is not extensive, but on deeper rereadings, I'm not only continually impressed with how much research and depth is packed into what seems like surface-level entertainment, but also impressed with what a good sixth-sense Gotouge possesses for storytelling. It keeps people coming back, and it does deliver a massive amount of detail in a way that we suck up like hungry vacuums, especially in the world-building lore (I just wish a lot of the early lore hadn't been dropped in favor of faster storytelling!). A lot of the tension is in how the information is delivered, and when we cut to other points of view or the cleverly delivered flashbacks. For example, we have enough foreshadowing to know that the Okami-san of Kyogoku-ya in the Red Light District has been killed, and we get a striking scene of Zenitsu realizing that he's found the demon they're looking for, and this scenes ends on a great cliffhanger of Zenitsu, in a big character building moment, standing up to her. The start of the following chapter leisurely draws us in to Daki's character, delivering on the set-up of the Okami-san's death, and developing the Upper Moons' relationship with Muzan, before crashing back to the scene at hand with a big, impactful display of Daki's character. What an excellent use of serialized media to do a smooth shift in POV, provide exposition and develop the characters, and keep tension running high! And for as much as I harp on foreshadowing, where it was done well, it was done really well. Notice how curious we remain about Yoriichi and Sun Breathing until almost the very end of the manga? That final conversation between Yoriichi and Sumiyoshi was the climax to all sorts of questions we had been building up since volume 2. Who is this guy with the earrings whom Muzan is so afraid of? Is Tanjiro's mark somehow tied with him, is he Tanjiro's ancestor? What connection with Tanjiro have with him to have this dream of him? Just how impressive of a warrior was this guy to have had a battle doll modeled after him? HOLY CRAP, IS HE A DEMON NOW?? So he was amazing and had a sad childhood and then a sad journey into old age, yes, but how did Sun Breath fall to the Kamado family? OH CRAP, HIS PAST IS EVEN SADDER THAN WE THOUGHT, WE LOVE THIS MAN.

But also, no arc, no battle in this manga is wasted.

Every battle plays a key element in establishing Tanjiro's journey, and by the end, the journey of the entire Corp. Even the early battles we've mostly forgotten about, like the Swamp Demon, served important narrative purposes in showing how being a Corp members accepting missions works, and establishing Nezuko as a partner in battle. And for characters whose arcs maybe would not have served as much forward momentum in the story? Well, Muzan made short work of them, keeping the narrative a lot tighter. Even though we didn't have any bond with the other Lower Moons when they were killed off and couldn't feel that sad on their behalf, it did establish a lot about Muzan and Enmu's characters. This is a excellent use of showing instead of telling, and Muzan's attitude toward his subordinates getting shown in even more interesting ways later on as he holds Gyokko's head and casually drops it.

In rambling conclusion, a few other points

We could go more into how story points like the blue spider lilies were kinda 'meh' in primary canon or how the shamelessly sloppy art often detracts from the story, but I choose not to, for Kimetsu Logic is Kimetsu Logic which I forgive, and I have nothing but love for the artistic approaches taken. Yes, let Tanjiro and Kotetsu make all those ridiculous circus poses as they discuss the discovery of a Sengoku-era sword, I am here for it. And then twist my guts later with increasingly skillful action sequences in heartbreaking expressions, I am so here for this, Gotouge.

#this more like KnY Literary Analysis but let's go ahead and give it these tags #KnY Nerdery #KnY Fandom Theories and Meta #Kimetsu Logic #hahahaha that should be a tag #Kimetsu no Yaiba #Demon Slayer

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